Inside Urban Green

Spider Plants » Canaries in the Coal Mine

These Spider (Chlorophytum) starter plants will be planted in recycled soda bottle sub-irrigation planters (SIPs) at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden workshop sponsored by the GreenBridge program.

Each participant in the Houseplant Sub-irrigated Planter (SIP) workshop this coming Wednesday can make and take home a recycled soda bottle SIP with a Spider plant (Chlorophytum) growing in it. We will make the SIPs in class.

Why a Spider plant you may wonder. The Spider plant will prove that the main reason cited for drain holes in pots is simply not true in reality. Sadly, many who preach about the need for drain holes know better and are lying to serve their own self-interest.

Lying is a strong word but there is no point in using weasel words when the consuming public is intentionally deceived like this. It is reminiscent of the tobacco companies behavior. Know that I have been called "the enemy" by them right to my face and cursed at for publishing this blog.

The bogus claim for drain holes is that you need to flush soluble salts from the soil. The typical symptom of excess soluble salts is browning of the leaf tips (called tipping). While this can be a signficant factor in the greenhouse where they are pushing the growth of plants with loads of water and chemical fertilizer, it is a low rung problem for consumers.  

Spider plants happen to be very sensitive to soluble salts. I recommend growing them because they are much like the canaries that coal miners used to use to detect toxic gas such as carbon monoxide. If you grow one or more Spider plants in SIPs and you do not get brown tips, you will prove to yourself that you do not need pots with drain holes. 

I have grown many, many sub-irrigated Spider plants both in Southern California and now here in Brooklyn. I have never had a problem with tip burn.

The bottom line is that you do not need pots with drain holes and that sub-irrigation is a vastly superior method of growing plants in containers.

Come to the workshop and learn some more houseplant secrets, including who is lying and why they are spreading bad information. You will also learn how to grow a wide variety of high quality sub-irrigated houseplants like these.

Prior Post: Don't Be A Drain Hole Dodo

Sub-irrigated Cactus Concealed in a Clay Pot

This cactus lives in a clay pot but it grows in a sub-irrigated planter (SIP aka erroneously as "self-watering") insert (note plastic rim). It was a 2" pot size plant a little over five years ago. It has spent most of its time on a windowsill here in my Brooklyn apartment and more recently on a light garden shelf. The can is a scale figure.

This cactus has been thriving in my Brooklyn apartment expect for one thing. The plant is healthy but note the brownish ring about half way up. It was caused by a gross operator error (by me). Contrary to what most people might think, it was not over-watering. Can you guess what caused it?

I forgot to water it for 3 months! It was growing on a windowsill hidden by one of my light gardens. It sort of went into winter hibernation, using little or no water from week to week. When I discovered my goofup the top of the plant had turned brown. As it grew, the brown top became a brown ring. Lesson learned! Even cactus plants need water when they need it. 

See prior photos of this cactus in this Flickr photo set.

Today Recycled Soda Bottle SIPs, Yesterday Recycled Milk Carton SIPs

You might think of these planters as the forerunner of today's recycled soda bottle sub-irrigated planters (SIPs). Note the overflow drain hole. How well I remember these waxed paper milk containers. We sipped milk at school in smaller sizes.

We recycled a lot of things back in those days, particulalry post depression and WWII. And then came the 1950's. Boom! The birth of fast food, cars and consumerism.

From Popular Mechanics February, 1947

Someone Made Some Money on Recycled Soda Bottle SIPs Way Back in 1979

Popular Mechanics - May 1979

My ad:

FREE! HELP THE ENVIRONMENT! - Make Sub-irrigated Planters (SIPs) from recycled soda bottles. No patent pending. Sell them, raise funds for your organization. Whatever! Click here for free photo instructions.

Yes, There is a Cure for Food Container Recycling Addiction

Speaking of recycling, there is an interesting New York Times article about it that highlights yogurt containers.

As a daily yogurt eater, I now have an apartment full of 32oz yogurt containers...and sour cream containers, and mushroom containers and 2 and 3 liter soda bottles and...

Yes, my name is Bob and I'm a food container recycling addict. I now have enough plastics to make enough sub-irrigated planters (SIPs) for my entire neighborhood. It is good to know that "the cure" is SIPs of the right kind instead of the other kind. So, take the cure and give a kid a soda bottle SIP.

While you're at it, make some tote box SIPs and raised bed SIPs using recycled nursery flats or mushroom containers or half-gallon milk containers to make the water & oxygen reservoirs. You will help the environment and your veggies will love it. So will you when it comes to harvest time. SIP a tomato?

via www.nytimes.com

Brushing your teeth with a yogurt container? Wiping your mouth with a coffee cup?

You might be doing both, as a result of a new trend in recycling, courtesy of the manufacturers who make the original products. A growing number of large food and beverage companies in the United States are assuming the costs of recycling their packaging after consumers are finished with it, a responsibility long imposed on packaged goods companies in Europe and more recently in parts of Asia, Latin America and Canada. Read more...

 

Little Green Girl Grooves on SIPs

How neat to see Little Green Girl a member of the Green Roof Growers blogging team teaching her friends about making recycled soda bottle SIPs (sub-irrigated planters).

She has learned some good stuff from her mom Debbie and Heidi Hough, one of the founders of the blog. Yeah team! 

Debbie made this very helpful diagram showing how to make soda bottle SIPs (click on it for a larger view).

It's a minor point but I hook the wicking strips (one u-shape going up and one u-shape going down, like chain links). The wick is probably a little more secure that way. There are a number of variants in making these planters. One of these days, we'll have a PDF showing all of them.
 
There should be one or more of these planters in every home and classroom in America. Soda bottle SIPS teach good plant science and making them is a great example of recycling, or up-cycling or repurposing as some prefer. Install them inside cachepots (including traditional clay pots) for a more decorative look if you like.

Your houseplants will love the consistent water and oxygen supply provided by SIPs. Add adequate light and they will be in plant heaven instead of the other place where so many houseplants meet their end.

Read the blog post at greenroofgrowers.blogspot.com

More Recycled Bottle Gardening Ideas For Apartment Dwellers and all Nomadic Urbanites

Following are interesting videos by PocketPcMan in Sydney, Australia. It seems as if we share some recycling plastic bottles DNA. I've been making soda bottle SIPs and other sub-irrigated planters from recycled food plastics for a long time. It is an excellent way to learn about sub-irrigated planters (SIPs) and helps the environment.

The first video demonstrates what PPM calls a “propeller” bottle garden. It is a clever idea, worth testing. The second and third videos show how to make a window farm or garden from recycled bottles. 

Note that he spray paints the bottom section of the bottle planters to prevent algae growth. The downside of this is that you cannot see the status of the soil moisture and health of the root system.

If I were to make one of these gardens I would test keeping them clear. You can add a few ounces of drug store grade (3%) hydrogen peroxide to the water when necessary to eliminate algae. It is not toxic.

I use hydrogen peroxide in the soda bottle SIPs in my light gardens and need to use it only occasionally. Since algae growth is directly related to light intensity its growth will vary from one installation to another. It is not a parasite but you may not like the look and it is taking oxygen from the water.

PPM also uses a creative technique to make holes in the bottles. He fills them with water, freezes them and drills holes with a wood-boring (spade) bit. This is a good idea if you have enough freezer space to freeze many bottles at the same time.

If not, you can use a hot knife or better yet, an electric wood-burning tool with a knife insert. With this method, you need to make cutting guides with a sharpie marker. 

Note that PPM uses strips of kitchen sponges for wicks. You could do this or use polyester batting material (or poly felt) for wicking. Polyester fabric is a staple item in my SIPs tool kit. Pellon is a good brand.

I have not tested either of these ideas. In my view the plants are not particularly robust but to each his own. I have also looked at photos of many of the popular hydroponic window farms and feel the same way. The plants I see are rather small and spindly looking. 

In my view, a light garden with shelves is a more productive way to grow edible plants indoors. I favor the combination of natural light from a window supplemented with fluorescent (or LED) lighting. It would obviously be helpful if we had the results of side-by-side testing of a variety of "apartment gardening" methods.

via www.youtube.com

Herb Planters or Propagators » Your Choice, Free or Pay

Someone in the U.K. didn't get the memo about making free sub-irrigated planters and propagators (SIPs) from recycled soda bottles.

You can have the convenience of buying these for 6.95 pounds ($11.00 U.S.) plus shipping and tax, or you can make the ones below at no cost other than a small amount of your time.

Of course you will also be helping the environment by keeping these bottles out of our landfills.

You can see Flickr photos on how to make them here. One of these days I will make a YouTube video about these simple SIPs. Promise!

2-liter soda bottle SIPs with 16 oz deli container tops

2-liter soda bottle SIPs with soda bottle and deli container tops.

via www.thebalconygardener.com

The Capsule pot is a mini and stylish propagator designed to be easy to use to grow your first herbs.The capsule pot is self watering, just add water and it gets soaked up into the soil. Add the herb seeds (included) and watch your beautiful herbs grow.

The black inner container can be split apart to reveal the soil plug which can then be transplanted along with your growing herbs. With a cute capsule design the capsule pots look great on the window sill and on a working desktop. A great present for anyone who wants to start indoor gardening and growing their own herbs at home.

• The size is nice and compact at only 10cm high!
• Available in basil or parsley.

Contoured Plant Based Plastic Bottles Coming From Pepsi. But What About SIPs?

The sub-irrigated planter (SIP) to the left was made from a 3-liter diet Pepsi bottle (see prior post also see how to make them). While it is good news about a new and greener Pepsi bottle, it looks like the days of straight-sided 2 and 3-liter soda bottles are numbered. That is not good news for making soda bottle SIPs.

Coke has already gone curvy. As you can see, a Spider plant is growing in a curvy SIP but it is more difficult to make and not nearly as flexible in design options. From the picture of the new contoured Pepsi bottle above it looks like the same thing will be true for Pepsi SIPs.

Contouring adds strength and perhaps some visual appeal but it is not so green. It may seem a utopian idea but there is real value in making soda bottles straight-sided. Are you thinking Don Quixote rides again? 

Recycling is good but upcycling or repurposing is even better. Soda bottle SIPs are an unintended secondary product of significant value to society.

Having grown plants in them for many years, I believe it could be justified to make them as a primary product. I’ve learned more about growing plants and plant science from soda bottle SIPs than any other information source.

Clear soda bottle SIPs should be helping to grow plants inside every school in the world. They would quickly demonstrate how easy it is to grow plants using sub-irrigation as compared to tricky-to-learn drench and drain watering in traditional pots with drain holes.

Clear SIPs teach recycling, water conservation, some basic plant science as well as an introduction to edible plant growing. What could be more important than learning some simple science along with self-sufficiency about feeding oneself? Learning how to use sub-irrigation on a personal level is a survival skill.

So, my message is to save all the straight sided soda bottles you can find and turn them into SIPs. What a great recycling project this would be for every school in America.

Know that growing edible plants with sub-irrigation is scalable from windowsills to backyards and school yards, to rooftops and balconies to commercial farms. It is not well known by the public that sub-irrigation is widely used in greenhouse growing around the world. It is even employed in field farming in some parts of the U.S.

Why then is it not taught in the public school system? Why are consumer horticulture institutions such as urban botanic gardens not teaching it? Many millions of children who are destined for lives of obesity or hunger deserve better.

via:crispgreen.com

Using plant-based, fully renewable resources, the company plans to manufacture a beverage container with a significantly reduced carbon footprint.

For years, scientists and inventors have offered up futuristic alternatives to the resource-intensive plastic packaging clogging up our landfills and recycling bins. And for just as many years, practical environmentalists have said that these designs are all well and good, but until the day they're used in mainstream commercial production, their impact will be minuscule.

It appears that day may not be as far away as we thought.

Root System Explodes in Just 3 Weeks

This Ficus benjamina (a bonsai in training) in a recycled soda bottle sub-irrigation planter (SIP) surprised even me with all my years of growing plants.

I'm in the process of reinstalling plants in the CuGreen lab to increase the plant care interval beyond weekly care. I need to do this pending upcoming knee surgeries and months of rehabilitation.

The tree was moved up from a 2-liter to a 3-liter soda bottle SIP on December 26, 2011. There were, of course, no visible roots after the replanting. When watering it this week, I was amazed to see the root system "explosion" in just 3 weeks. This is awesome!

As an aside, all school kids should be able to see the amazing “hidden world” of plant roots that I see every day because the SIPs have clear walls and the roots grow so well. 

The most important factor about what we see here is the vivid demonstration of how plants thrive in SIPs. Know that sub-irrigation is scalable from windowsill herb growing SIPs to 4' x 8' raised bed SIPs. SIP “plumbing” fits all sizes of watertight planters. The key element is the water and oxygen reservoir that is an inherent part of all SIPs regardless of size or shape.

The benefit to the plants is that they receive an online supply of water, oxygen and nutrients. All we need to do is add an adequate amount of light.

In addition, the systems are hygienic when growing edible plants. There is no exposure to often-contaminated city soil. Why risk the possibility of a serious health problem when such a productive way of growing plants is readily available. All it takes is a little bit of knowledge. The systems are so simple to make.