How to Make an Ecosphere

This is a cool way to make a empty soda bottle Ecosphere. An Ecosphere is a closed ecosystem useful for learning about ecology, such as a terrarium

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• One 2-liter soda bottle
• One bottle cap
• Wicking material-fabric interfacing or cotton string
• Water, soil and plants or seeds

1. Remove the label from the 2-liter bottle. Usually soaking it in some soapy water is enough to get the label to come off. Cut The bottle about a third of the way down from the top, so that you know have two pieces. This would be the shoulder part of the bottle.
2. Poke or drill a hole in the bottle top, then put the top back on the bottle.
3. Take a very wet strip of cotton wick. I have seen them for sale at Walmart where you buy kerosene, and put it through the bottle top. Take the top section and put it into the bottom section, upside down. The wick should reach bottom of reservoir.
4. Fill the bottom section with water or pond water and add soil and plants to the top section. To be effective, the wick should run up into soil. Don't let the wick get stuck to the side of the bottle.
5. Once you are satisfied that everything is working right, then you can seal the top part into the bottom part using a silicone sealant that takes about 24 hours to set.

Tips & Warnings

• For better drainage you can place a layer of sand or gravel on the bottom before putting in the soil.
• You can hang your bottle by punching holes and attaching a string. You will need to put some silicone sealant around those areas to keep too much air from coming inside which will let the condensation to go out.
• You don't have to use existing plants you could also use grass seed or radishes and beans. Don't forget to soak beans overnight before planting.