Do you hate throwing away perfectly good plastic
bottles? Well so do I. Hi, I'm Ben, and in this video I'm going to share with you 10 ingenious ideas
for transforming these from unwanted waste into a treasured resource for your garden. We're getting
into the warmer, drier days of summer here so what better place to start than keeping our plants
sufficiently watered. Start by cutting off the bottom of a plastic bottle, then poke or drill
holes into either the cap or neck of the bottle. Bury the bottle upside down close
to a plant so that the holes lie about 4 inches or 10 centimetres below the surface. This makes watering so much easier because all you
have to do is fill up the bottle, then move on to the next plant, and if it's drained through by the
time you're done you can always go back, fill it up again, to give the soil a really good drenching.
I especially love this technique around thirsty, warm-season crops like tomatoes and squash, which
love having all that moisture at their roots. You can also slow down the rate at which the water
drains through by not drilling holes into the bottle, and instead stuffing a tight-fitting piece
of sponge into the neck of the bottle like this. Even with a rose fitted, the spray from
watering cans can sometimes be a little too fast for just-sown seeds or delicate seedlings. Water
bottle watering cans are a gentler alternative. Just pierce holes into the lid of an empty drinks
bottle like this. You want to aim for a nice even distribution, and because
you don't want the holes too big I'm using a thumb tack or drawing pin to make
the holes. Push the pin in at 90 degrees so that the water comes out nice and straight and doesn't
fly off at different angles. And there you have it. Bottles make fantastic miniature greenhouses
to keep recently transplanted seedlings safe from plunging temperatures and harsh winds,
ideal for acclimatizing them to the outdoors or getting a jump start on the new growing
season. They'll also keep birds off. Simply cut off the bottom of a clear bottle, label removed,
and pop it over your seedlings or young plants. Narrow bottles are great for protecting individual
plants, and you can always keep them from blowing away by just pushing them down into the soil. Or,
for a belts-and-braces approach, use a cane like this through the middle and push it down into the
soil, and that really will anchor it into position. Larger bottles like five liter size would
be ideal for clusters of seedlings, or even larger bottles like water dispenser bottles would
give you even more options. Whatever you're using, leave the lid off for ventilation unless
it's exceptionally cold. You can make very effective tools using sturdy plastic bottles. Use
a bottle with a handle, such as this milk bottle, to make an all-purpose scoop. Mark out a diagonal
line on both sides of the bottle like this, so that the top comes within about an
inch or three centimeters of the handle. Now draw a line to connect
up the two diagonal lines, one at the top and then one
along the bottom like this. And then simply cut it out. And there you have your scoop! You could also cut a gouge out of the bottom
of a bottle like this, then mount it securely onto a cane or pole. The result is a very basic
but no less effective fruit picker, ideal for extending your reach to nab those high up fruits.
Of course, like any other recyclable container plastic bottles make handy little containers. Cut
them in half, then drill drainage holes into the bottom half before filling with potting mix and
planting. You could use the top half too of course, piercing holes into the cap for drainage then
perhaps securing your bottle planter to a post, fence, wall or trellis to make a quirky feature in
its own right. How about a self-watering container? You'll need a bottle that's relatively tall
like this, and then start by cutting it in half. There we go. Now we need to make a hole in the
lid, and to do that i'm going to use a screwdriver that I'm first heating up with a candle
so it more easily penetrates the cap. Next we need some sort of
wick - cotton is best for this. And you can use a piece of cotton rope or
string, or an old cotton t-shirt for example. I'm using an old sock, and I'm going to cut
it into a length that I can feed into the top part and that will dangle down into the
bottom of the pot, as you'll see in a moment. Right, there we go. That's going to
serve as our wick, and it's going to take up water from our reservoir down
here into our little planter here. First I'm going to tie a knot into it to hold it in
place once it's threaded through into the pot. That should do it. And now I've got to
thread it through so it dangles down. There we go. All I've got to do now is plant it up. And then time to fill our reservoir.
You want it to come just below the cap. Be sure to top up the reservoir from time to time,
and the cotton wick will keep the potting mix above consistently damp, and your plant happy. You
can make seed or growing trays from bottles - and mushroom or grape punnets too of course. Either cut
them right down like this to make a shallow tray, not forgetting to pierce those all important
drainage holes into the bottom, or slice open a two liter drinks bottle vertically like this, again
piercing holes along the bottom. Fill with soil, sow, and grow. And all those bits of plastic
you've got left over? Don't waste those either. Cut them down into strips like this to use as
plant labels. Write on them using a marker pen and then, when you're done, just wipe them clean
or leave them out in the sun to bleach clean, and that way you can reuse them. And finally,
if you've got loads of plastic bottles you could even try making something like this - a
plastic bottle greenhouse. You'll need hundreds, possibly even thousands of bottles for this, so
start collecting them now, and press friends and family into collecting them as well. Nut whatever
you do, don't go out and buy bottles for this! Now, basically the way it's done
is to thread bottomless bottles onto garden stakes or canes like this so
that they snugly fit on top of each other. Each run of canes can then be secured to a wooden
frame to make each panel - that's roof panels, side panels, and of course the door. The panels, once
complete, can then be secured to each other using brackets or hinges. Now it's going to take
a bit of time, but what an original, imaginative, and eco-friendly way to make a greenhouse! I
don't think I'll look at plastic bottles in the same way again. Perhaps you've got an idea that
hasn't been mentioned. I'd love to know, so please do share it in the comments below. There's loads
more handy advice on this channel, so hit that subscribe button and ding that notification bell
so you don't miss out. And if you're interested in more ways to recycle and repurpose in the garden,
check out this playlist. I'll catch you next time.
