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Container Gardening

Using clear plastic containers: good idea?

13 years ago

Thanks to my kids I have a lot of clear plastic Gatorade-type beverage bottles on hand and was wondering if they would be good to use as small plant containers with the 5/1/1/ or grit mixes. Normally we just recycle them, but these are made of sturdy plastic and would hold decent size plants if drainage holes were added to the bottoms and the tops removed.

I've read that black or dark green plastic containers absorb a lot of summer heat and raise root temps so I'm wondering if clear plastic would reduce some of that heat buildup. Would they make decent containers?

Thanks.

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Comments (6)

tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
13 years ago
You get MORE relative heat gain with clear containers than with any opaque container - even black.

Al
suddensam
13 years ago
Thanks Al, I learned something.
Plant em if you got em.
Sam
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rnewste
13 years ago
Also, clear will encourage algae growth. Green or brown (like the color of beer bottles) will be better.

Raybo
Suzi AKA DesertDance So CA Zone 9b
13 years ago
You can use them as mini greenhouses, however! In the shade of course, but I use them a lot to help cuttings get established. I just cut them 3/4 of the way down, and put that bottom half over the plant. The other part makes a neat funnel!
Suzi
granburyflowergirl
13 years ago
The other part (funnel) can also be used to target a specific weed with round up without the risk spraying nearby plants
alexander3_gw
13 years ago
This spring I started several paw paw seeds in clear 3 liter soda bottles. They're by south and east facing windows, with the tops just about even with the windowsill. I chose these because paw paw seedlings start out with a tap root, and the lateral roots don't get very long in the first year, so the shape of the bottle is a good match for the root system.

Last year I had a few situated so the bottom of the bottle was even with the windowsill....in the morning, the sun made the container quite hot, so I wrapped them in foil. I can also confirm the algae growth. Where the sun does hit the sides of the upper part of the bottles for a little while each day, algae has grown.

If you have something to grow out of direct sunlight, it's neat to have a few clear containers so you can actually watch the water movement through the gritty or 5:1:1 mix. You can also see that the mix down in the container is still moist even when the top is dry.

Alex

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