Simple Soda Bottle Quasi-Hydroponic

This is such a simple, cheap and effective introduction into hydroponic gardening. I leave my basil plants in there for weeks at a time without watering and they do great! Perfect for those who leave the house for days or weeks at a time and don't want their plants dying. It will have you growing and using more of your own food at home in no time!

Collect Your Items

For this project you will need:

2L plastic soda bottle
sharp cutting knife
old rag
potting mix
plant (basil, my favorite mmmm).

Cut Your Soda Bottle in Two Pieces

Cut the soda bottle roughly in the center so you have equal volumes of both pieces.

Pull Your Rag Through the Top Piece

You will want your rag to be thick enough such that it blocks most of the bottle opening. You should pull it through far enough such that the amount that extends from the opening just reaches the bottom of the lower piece.

Once you're happy with how far it extends out, you can cut the top piece of the rag so it comes up about halfway.

Pot Your Plant and Water Thoroughly

Grab some high-quality potting mix and plant your plant. Invert the top piece of your soda bottle and place this downward in the lower piece. Fill up with enough potting mix while trying to keep the rag centered so that the roots can grow around it.

Leave enough space to pot your delicious spicy basil and finish off with the potting mix.

Give it enough water so you see the bottom fill with water.

The rag will act as a conduit for water and as the roots draw water from the system the rag will draw up more water. You can leave this for around two weeks and it will have plenty of water.

A great and cheap introduction to quasi-hydroponic gardening.

You can check out more of my DIY stuff at my blog dopehome.

Update

I've had my basil growing in the soda bottle for a few months now and thought I'd share an update. The self-watering system works really well, but what I wasn't anticipating was the plant roots! They have grown through the material and down into the base of the setup. One way to combat this would be to use a tighter fabric like a dense rope or something that would prevent the roots permeating the material.