Recyled Aloe Drink Bottles Make Nice Looking Sub-irrigated Planters

These are recycled plastic aloe drink bottles made into sub-irrigated planters (SIPs). They have more decorative appeal than regular soda bottles.

You can see that these planters have long wicks (Pellon poly fabric or equivalent). I was not sure that the water would move by capillary action all the way up the wick into the reservoir.

As you can see in the photo to the left, it turned out to be no problem at all. See the water roots escaping out of the reservoir along the wick. Plant roots definitely know how to find water.

The reason for the long wick is the design pattern of the bottles. There is an obåvious space between the patterns to cut the bottle. Doing so creates a planter with a tall reservoir. The solution is to install two strips of poly fabric. The shorter one loops inside the reservoir. The longer one loops down to the bottom of the reservoir. Link them together like links in a chain.

Recycled bottle planters are a great way to teach children about how plants grow. I constantly learn something new by using them. I use spider plants (Chlorophytum) for experimenting because they are easy to propagate, easy to grow, relatively low light tolerant and are in scale for small planters.

It does not matter whether they are houseplants or edible plants. SIPs work beautifully for any terrestrial plant regardless of species.