Things You'll Need:
- Empty 2L soda bottle
- Old cotton sock
- Potting soil
- Spray paint
- Sand paper
- Razor blade, plate snippers, or similar.
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Step 1
First remove the sticker from the soda bottle using soap and warm water.
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Step 2
Let the bottle dry.
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Step 3
Use the razor or the plate snippers to cut the bottle in half. The exact distance is not so important, so you can eyeball this. You should end up with a top half and a bottom half.
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Step 4
Use the sandpaper to round of the edges you just cut. Be careful, they can cut.
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Step 5
Use the sandpaper to rough up the surface top half of the bottle. This is necessary to make the spray paint stick better. You can also sandpaper the bottom. This will give the planter a frosted look. You do not need to do this though.
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Step 6
Spray paint the outside of the top half of the bottle. The reason for doing this is to prevent UV from hitting the roots of the plants. Darker colors are better for this but you can use an assortment of colors. An easy way to spray paint the top half is to take a cardboard box, cut out one side, and put the things to be painted inside. This keeps the paint concentrated and it keeps the bottles from blowing over.
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Step 7
Let the paint dry, obviously.
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Step 8
Take the sock and pul it through the nozzle of the top half. You should have equally much sock on each side. Any rag will work, I just find socks easy to use.
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Step 9
Put water in the bottom half.
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Step 10
Put the top half into the bottom half upside down. The sock should touch the water. If not, add more water.
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Step 11
Put potting soil in the top half and water it. As long as the soil and the sock stays moist, the sock will pull water up from the reservoir via capillary action. All you have to do is to make sure the reservoir has enough water.
