Turn a 2 liter plastic bottle into a Terrarium

Yesterday I posted on our vegetable gardening Facebook page 6 broccoli plants that I had started from seed inside a two liter plastic bottle (show above).  I received a number of emails, Facebook posts and so on as to how I did this.  Therefore I wanted to share it in this blog post.  It's pretty simple, and when done it creates a nice terrarium for starting your seeds and growing your plants.

You need a few basic items to make this work.  For starters, a plastic bottle.  I use two liter bottles, but three liter bottles would be better.  We just do not have many of them around here anymore.  If you are not someone that drinks anything from two liter bottles, do what I did.  Start visiting some of your neighbors recycle bins on recycle day (if you have that).  It's a great resource for getting these bottles.

Next you will need a pot to put your soil, seeds, plants etc. into.  I like to use Cowpots, so that when it is time to move your plants to the outdoors, I just plant the entire pot.

Some soil, and of course seeds.  You are ready to begin.

Start by cutting the bottle in half.  You might have to puncture a hole in the bottle first to get it going.  Once you do, cutting the bottle in half should be a breeze. 

Your bottle should look like the one pictured above.  Mine has been used already so that is why you see some dirt in there.

Fill your pot with your soil and seed, then place the pot inside the bottom half of your plastic bottle as shown above. 

Finally, take the top of the bottle and while slightly squeezing in the sides of the bottom of the bottle, place the top over the sides of the bottom as shown above.  Notice the cap is on top of the bottle.  You must leave this on otherwise all of the warm air in the bottle will escape.

And there you have it!  A nice little terrarium for your seeds made out of nothing more than a two liter plastic bottle.