Home made plant potters. Long term water efficiency.

[Arugela]

I've been messing around with plant potters made of 2 liter pop bottles for some years for some pepper plants I like to keep. I found a way to do something interesting that may go to some basic principles applied to plants that may make them more water efficient. This could probably be used in several different areas. Don't know if this is already applies to things like plants in space or other normal plant potters. I know some use seperate bases for water to drain. But I don't know if to the same effect. They may though. I think orcid pots or similar might do this regardless of if it's intended to. I don't know either way.

I was at some point also trying to make a double layers terrarium concept I think. Although I was seeing if it was useful after making some out of other plastic bottles to save money and just mess around with stuff.

1. What I started doing was taking 2 liter pop bottles and to save money I cut off the top just above the label where it starts to curve. take off the cap unless you find some reason to leave it on.

2. Possibly poke holes in the top of the part you just cut off for drainage and possibly the bottom of the 2 liter bottle(if you do make sure the holes are on the flat part touching the surface it sits on unless you want drainage holes also.). The bottom was if I wanted to water from the base to stop dirt condensing over time. If so you need something to put it on to hold the volume of water you want to water it with. If you have too little volume on the thing it sits on it can get very annoying quick if you want/need to put more water in(unless you don't care and just put the rest on the top, but this can lead to it spilling over in the bottom container after it settles and making a mess). The holes on the bottom should be as small as possible but big enough for water to get in. The smaller the better as far as I know.

3. Fill the bottom of the 2 liter with some dirt. This should be packed into about the height of the top of the bottom dents. Originally I cut a hole in the side I wanted to tape close to put other plants and or water directly in the bottom chamber, but this turned out to be a bad idea. And it decreased how long I could go between watering.

4. Put the top you cut off upside down and push it in. There should be a space that is clear with no dirt between the label, dirt, and the top of the upside down plastic top.

5. Fill the top with dirt. If there are any other steps you know yo should do do it to this and the bottom layer of dirt first. There may be additives you want or need depending on the plant.

6. Plant your plant in the top layer.

7. Water and stick in an appropriate place and wait.

This doesn't work as well for young plants and care should be given potentially to them. Although it may keep a nice even moisture for longer than other planters. But once a plant is of moderate size and the roots go deep it should be able to avoid watering for 3 - 6 months. It may also help with more tropical plants like oranges or whatnot as it creates condensation/humidity that may help them survive better.

From what I can tell it decreases the oxygen flow through the plant. this combined with condensation from the bottom layer and general sides of the bottle slowly and evenly spread the water throughout the plant. Also, I have mine in only moderate sun because I don't have the best windows for plants. The sun is partially blocked by trees etc. This may extend the watering time but I don't know by how much.

Downsides:

1. If you water too heavily from the top it may take a little longer to drain and can more easily waterlog the plant or roots potentially.

2. Two liter bottles may become a little prone to being top heavy in this configuration. This is because of their general shape. Other bottles may solve this. Although if you cut a little more off the base of the bottle it may help with this. But it may reduce the space the roots have to grow in.

3. Can potentially grow mold or fungus or other oddities in the base of the bottle. From what I've very briefly looked up, what is in the bottom of mine may be a harmelss fungus. It's white and soggy soil and might be what I've seen called a saprophytic fungus. But I'm not even remotely knowledgeable on this. So, I can't say realistically. It may be more prone to this type of thing and take longer than normal to dry out also because of how it retains water. This can be annoying with younger plants as you have to keep watering them. It's a bit less of a problem when the plant is older as you don't have to water as much. Not sure if this can be bad for your health or not. Use with caution. I've seen stuff about using cinnamon as an anti fungal. You might be able to put some in water and feed it to the plant. It might circulate into the area and reduce it without having to open the container if it needs to be. I've tried using cinnamon in the past but I don't remember much about the results. I think it worked in general. I have no guarantees on this though as I don't really know anything about it.

On a separate note. The dirt I use may be slightly clay like and this may reduce the oxygen flow further. I think it is the oxygen because if you cut a hole or bigger area and increase the air flow potential through the plant it will drastically reduce the time between watering from my experience.

Has anyone ever tried this or seen this concept applied elsewhere? I do it so I don't have to water plants very often and to save money as plant pots are a bit expensive. But if it's applicable it could be an interesting concept in other areas, assuming it's not already used. It could help anywhere water is short or needs to be preserved relatively.

 

Here is a similar concept which I think I have tried:

But these tend to get nasty because of the sitting water. I also have no idea how long these go between watering and probably work differently and may use more water. The type of bottle I described above will not release smells as far as I can tell. Although you may get some mild stuff in the bottle in the clear gap. But it will likely be heavily reduced to non existant. You also will not need to open them up virtually ever. Literally until you need to repot or replace the plant. At which point you can simply let the bottom chamber dry out with dirt sealing it in until it's a non issue as far as smells go.

 

Note: With my written instruction above you don't cut the bottle at the base or near the bottom. You cut the top at the top of the 2 liter label at the top curve. This goes upside down all the way to the bottom. You do not cut it halfway like in the above picture.

I also don't think that type of water in the base thing seals the oxygen off as well either because it's just sitting on the bottom of the pop bottle. The ones I do actually put the top of the pop bottle deep in the 2 liter bottle and cover it with dirt making a seal. It also removes the need for any type of wick which is annoying and rots over time.

Either way, the point is the ones I've been making have a possibly absurd amount of time per water for the plants. Or it makes it seem like it does. It could just be the dirt allows a sponge to hold the same volume of water but retains it in the system and then evenly slowly distributes it. But either way it leeds to less water over time potentially. Or a lot less hassle. It's also cheap because you only need an empty 2 liter pop bottle, some scissors, the dexterity not to cut yourself, and dirt, and a plant.

Brain fart: I think this idea is part of the reason a terrarium works. 8) That is one of the reasons I made it this way originally. But it's a cheap way to do it and from my experience pretty effective. Do they use this concept on the ISS or anything. It could be useful in certain circumstances. Might be good in habitats etc. Not with pop bottles necessarily, but in general. And potentially the ISS and habitats are somewhat a giant concept of this. But it might work in even smaller scale. Although the fact it can grow small amounts of mold or fungus in the base might be bad if the container is in a sealed habitat... not sure about elsewhere.

 

Actual pics:

The last pic is a bit bad. But the bottom has dirt. And you want you ca place holes at the bottom of those little flat spots on the bottom that the pop bottle rests on. this will allow it to draw up water. Just don't make big holes. And place it on something to collect excess water and or put water in to water the bottle.

I also don't know whether you want the label on it or not. if you leave it on it may expose the roots more. I have no clue which is better or worse. Or if it matters to different plants. I'm not sure if the sunlight might be good for helping with fungus and other things either.

Edited April 18, 2018 by Arugela

[Scotius]

You can also use bottoms of PET bottles as a mini-greenhouses for young plants. Just flip them upside down and cover the plant Of course the size of the pot and height of the plant will dictate how big of a bottle you want to use, and how much you want to cut off. But i like your idea a lot - combined with some shelves it can allow people living in small apartaments a much needed access to greenery. And a chance to grow some fresh produce - like herbs, maybe cocktail tomatoes or peas?

[Arugela]

I put another pop bottle bottom on the pepper plant so it has a nice large greenhouse for now. I completely forgot you could do that. Probably would have speed up the sprout time since I'm growing a pepper plant. I'll have to leave it on and see if it helps it grow faster. 8)

I forget little things like that easily.

Simple tip, if anyone does this. Make sure the greenhouse top is inside the base so the water dripping down goes back inside the main bottle. Or else you could get water getting on things and water leaving the system. It's simple but it's easy to forget until you have water pooling up on the table. BTW, I'm speaking from experience. 8d I actually cut two very small slits in the top of the greenhouse base(less than a centimeter) on each side to give a little room for the greenhouse top to fit inside more easily. It seems to help. Just make sure the greenhouse top goes down farther than the slits so it doesn't leak. And that the slits are well above any dirt line you want in the bottle in the future. Modifications are permanent. But of course the bottles are cheap.

I wonder if keeping a greenhouse top on it the whole time would help even the water out enough you could get plants growing on the bottom. If you are careful about the water added and it helps spread it out enough not to overwater the bottom, you could get a little terrarium in the base. I wanted to do this originally to grow things that might help the upper plant grow. Say, if a certain plants likes or needs nitrogen, maybe grow a legume. Or something that can grow and die enough to reduce the need for fertilizers etc. Anything that might aid in the systems longevity.

I wonder if watering from the bottom would help as it may provide a little extra outlet for water, but I don't know for certain. You might be able to put some pure drainage holes that might help get some back into the base until it needs to soak it up again.

I tried this a little but messed it up. But it still may be doable. I think a tip may be to prepare a bottle without planting in the top but having the dirt on top and water slowly to get the terrarium going first. Then plant the plant. Might not make a difference though. That is an idea I have wanted to do properly for some time though. When I did a version where I cut a hole in the bottom for access I was hoping to get access to grow a second plant to harvest like basil with tomatoes. But you could sacrifice watering time for a second plant growing area. You could also put more dirt in the bottom and put the pop bottle top up higher or use something to hold it up in the middle so it doesn't sink to much and give a bottom plant more dirt to grow in for a double layered planter. You could even do more than one hole in the bottom but you might have to watch out for structural issues at some point.

Sadly, I don't know enough about complimentary plants to really do a lot with this idea outside of stuff that is good to eat together. Although I would really like to.

 

Edited April 18, 2018 by Arugela

[LordFerret]

7 hours ago, Arugela said:

Sadly, I don't know enough about complimentary plants to really do a lot with this idea outside of stuff that is good to eat together. Although I would really like to.

Plenty of resource on this out there. Nice design by the way.

https://www.motherearthnews.com/organic-gardening/companion-planting-guide-zmaz81mjzraw

[Arugela]

I came up with another potential tip.

I use somewhat clay soil mixed with random left over potting mix. If this is part of why it works and it helps keep the oxygen from moving and removing the water. If you wanted to use a less clay dirt for you could possibly get clay potting soil or a clay like plant base material and place it on the top to slow down the air movement. Possibly put holes in it or do something so that a greenhouse on top can move the moisture up. Or it may help to keep the water in indefinetely. I haven't tried it yet. But it could give more options.

You could also put a plant on top if it help on top of clay or other substance that can act as food and then grow a moss on top of it around the plant. This could help seal in water. Assuming there are no other problems resulting in doing something like that.

Edited May 7, 2018 by Arugela

[Nuke]

i was contemplating 3d printed seed/moisture holders surrounded by shredded support material that comes off of every print as a way of getting hydroponic solution to the plants (a type recently legalized in my state). was going to use a gravity fed system with a fish tank being siphoned off, with flow restrictors to drip solution through the pla plastic (probibly wouldnt use abs or anything like that, pla is biodegradable and should for the most part be safe). then i could catch solution in a receiving tank, and periodically pump it back up to the main holding tank, should be capable of surviving power loss for several hours (other designs relied on battery backup, dont think it would have been more economical). just theory crafting at this point. i dont know anything about gardening. i just know a master gardener who swears by ph adjusted miracle grow solution.