Teach & Learn I -Growing Container (using Cola Bottles)

As an educator, I teach students so that they are able to learn new things. But I also tell them that, “to be able to learn, one must empty his cup so that it can be filled again”, because a full cup cannot be filled anymore.

To learn much, one must “unlearn and then re-learn”.

So now, it’s time to teach & learn this wonderful hobby called Gardening.

For my Modified Hydro Garden:

It’s “modified” because I used:

   1. recycled material (such as softdrink bottles, used styro & plastic cups) instead of the traditional PVC pipes

       

   2. Vermicompost as growing medium instead of perlite crystals, coco coir dust, gravel or clay pellets

       

   3. Mosquito net to protect my seedlings as I cannot afford to wake up that early to inspect them for insect larva or any pest.

   4. Passive aeration to avoid unnecessary electric consumption & accidents brought about by pumps.

PREPARATION:

A. GROWING CONTAINERS (using COLA BOTTLES)

Materials needed:

softdrink plastic bottles (preferably 2L size), marker pen, scissors, serrated knife (will explain later why), top of milk tin can

Procedure: All you have to do is: Mark, Cut and Fold

MARK

·      For each bottle, you can make 2 holes (one at the bottom and near the top end).

·      Starting from about 1-2 inches from the bottom end, make about 8 dash marks(@6 &12, 3 & 9, 11 & 2, 5 & 8 o’clock) using the top of milk tin can.  

·      Do the same for the hole near the top end, avoiding the slope of the bottle.

                                                        

CUT & FOLD

·      Position the serrated knife along the 6 & 12 o’clock mark on the bottle and make about an inch slice or cut using a “saw-like” technique. 

                                                                   

  Serrated knife is better bec it “grips or bites” easily onto the plastic bottle unlike fine knives which slips & might cut your hand.

·      Using your scissors, cut through until the you reach the marks making your hole looks like a “pizza”.

 

about an inch cut

            Each cut now looks like tiny triangles, about 8 of them.

Fold each “triangle” inwards, and voila! You now have a hole for your seedling plugs.

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