Great Idea: How to Make Hanging Tomato Planters With 2 Liter Pop Bottles

What a great idea!!!

 

Put your old 2-liter bottles to good use by keeping them out of the landfill and making cheap upside-down tomato planters. Even if you lack any gardening space at all, you can have fresh tomatoes throughout the growing season with these planters. They can hang from your porch, patio or a sunny window. Making soda bottle tomato planters is also a fun way to introduce children to gardening, while teaching them to be environmentally friendly.

 

Step 1

Remove the cap. Cut off the bottom of the soda bottles with a utility knife or scissors and discard them.

Step 2

Decorate the bottle, if you desire, by painting the outside with acrylic craft paint, or wrapping the bottle in colorful contact paper or duct tape.

Step 3

Punch three holes around the sides, spaced out evenly, approximately ½ inch from the top. Thread one piece of twine through each hole, pulling it through so that the ends meet evenly. Hang them over the outside of the planter.

Step 4

Have someone hold the soda bottle for you upside-down, or sit and hold the bottle between your knees. Remove a young, small tomato plant from its starter pot and turn it upside-down. Insert it into the bottle, threading the leaves and stems very carefully through the hole. Hold the root ball up so just the top fork of the plant is sticking out of the bottle spout.

Step 5

Stuff some cotton into the neck of the bottle around the stem to prevent soil from falling through. Add potting soil or your favorite tomato growing medium. When the soil is high enough to support the root ball, let go of it. Continue filling the bottle to the top.

Step 6

Remove the cotton carefully by pulling it out of the neck of the bottle.

Step 7

Gather the ends of the twine. Tie them around a sturdy bar or hook to hold up the planter.

I found this idea here: www.gardenguides.com