JOIN NOW LOG IN
iVillage GardenWeb iVillage GardenWeb THE INTERNET'S GARDEN & HOME COMMUNITY ADVERTISEMENT
Blogs Forums Photo Galleries Ask The Experts Tools & Directories        
Return to the Garden Experiments Forum | Post a Follow-Up

 o
Recycled Gardening - The 3 Liter Strawberry Pot

Posted by Amino_X z7a AR (My Page) on
Mon, Aug 18, 03 at 5:59

Hi Gang,

I've been coming to the Vegetable and Container Gardening forums for some time, but didn't even know this was here. Awesome! :D

I have begun an exeriment using a 3 liter soda bottle as a strawberry pot. I'm rooting my runners now and hope it works out come spring.

The problem was that I wanted some nice strawberries, but patio gardening on a shoestring is just flat out expensive! So I started looking around the house for some old junk that could be put to new use.

After removing the label from a discarded 3 liter soda bottle, I washed it thoroughly with a mild bleach solution, then (taking a cue from all the Red Plastic Mulch that's being sold these days) spray painted it Cherry Red.

I then poked holes in the bottom with an ice pick for drainage, as well as a large "half-moon" hole near the top (just big enough to get my hand in), then several "access" holes through which to plant the strawberries.

After filling with a premium soil mix, I "stapled" the runners through the access holes to the soil for germination.

Since I live on the second floor of an apartment building, these are going to have to be hung, so using the ice pick, I poked 2 holes in the cap and fed through a length of nylon lanyard that I then tied together to form a big loop. I then fed the loop upwards through the neck of the bottle. The cap is too big to fit "up" through the neck, so it act as a cork, holding the bottle securly in place. :D

I am week 2 into this experiment, so I'll update as much as possible, and post what pictures I can. (Dear Santa, Please bring me a Digital Camera [grins]).

Best Wishes
Amino-X


Follow-Up Postings:

 o
RE: Recycled Gardening - The 3 Liter Strawberry Pot

Sounds neat! I tried similar but with 2-litre bottles on my patio (haven't seen 3-litres for ages! lucky you to have them) and found out that they have to be watered frequently, in spite of having added moisture-beads! I was watering morning and evening and still lost a few plants on the bottom where the water evidently didn't reach. I'm now trying a sort of osmosis-method of watering, with strips (from an old t-shirt) pushed down one side of the plant bottle, with the other end of the strip in another bottle filled with water. This seems to be working - they are drinking about a litre of water a day (we've been having 90+ degrees), and the plants on the bottom sections are no longer dying from drought.

I'm going to try your hanging method -- unless you tell me it failed and your plants went kerplunk! :) Seriously, I think that using the cap is a really great idea. Sure beats the macrame-type hangers I used.


 
 

 

 


Click here to learn more about in-text links on this page.



iVillage GardenWeb: The Internet's Garden & Home Community  
  iVillage Home & Garden Network