Hi Beatrice,
I've used green bottles before, and it seemed to not make a difference. I usually use the clear ones, though.
Duane

They work just fine. I though I had a pic of an open green one, but I only found this one with a closed top.
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Remy

use diet mountain dew 2 liters last year and this...they work fine...may even protect a little when the sun gets smoldering hot on them!

all my 2 lt. are the green ones. I quit using the clear ones when they changed the shape. I like the old shape better. they work fine, I think the tint helps to shade them as it warms up.
justsaymo

My absolute favorite container is the 3 liter green bottle that some of the off-brand sodas come in. I rarely drink the stuff, so only get them if I got to a party that used the stuff for punch mix or something. Go ahead and use them. They'll work great.

Martha

Thank you everyone! I will be outside today with my new green bottles, and sowing happily! I keep saying this will be the last weekend with warm weather, but today will be 44F. It's expected to finally get cold here on Tuesday, so maybe it will stay that way the rest of the winter, and this really IS my last warm weekend?

There is a thread on this at Do-It-Yourself Wall-O-Water - Garden Experiments Forum - GardenWeb.

2 LTR bottles are one of my favorite containers. I use both green and white equally. The color seems to make no difference. This type of plastic lasts for many years too. I've got bottles that have been used for 4 years and they're still in good shape so I'm not sure how many years they will last! I just rinse and air dry them to store in the basement.

Ack, that should be "green and clear" not white!

Albert-thanks for the link. I have seen a wall of water before. In my case, though, I am using mine for planting my seeds, not keeping them warm. I only mentioned the temperature because in eastern MA, on January 1, 44F is unheard of. I was out today again with just a long sleeve shirt and windbreaker. At this point last year we were buried in four feet of snow!

Terrene-yes, green and clear! If these do well I'll be saving them for next year, too. I don't drink tonic/soda, so it's a chore to get some in the first place. I cut 4/5 of the way around so I ended up with a hinge, but for storing them I may just cut the rest of the way through, then store tops with tops, and bottoms with bottoms, for easier stacking.

That's exactly what I did Beatrice - first year I cut a hinge and used a little tape, and then decided to cut it off all the way around and wedge the top over the bottom. You can cut a slit or 2 vertically in the top half, and then wedge the top on the inside or outside of the bottom. And it usually stays put pretty well, so you can move the bottle around easily.

Here's a pic of containers drying in 2010 - yes I am fairly orderly - I don't bother using bleach and soap, just scrub and rinse. Let air dry, stack the bottoms together, and tops together, and then store in a plastic bag in the basement. Pretty lightweight and easy to move around.
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I find getting the seedlings out of the liter bottles are very difficult because of the shape of the bottle bottom, and the hardness of the plastic of the bottoms. I use a soldering iron to poke my holes in my containers(milk jugs)It works with the liter bottles but takes a longer time and I found the plastic much thicker than a milk jug, and for me it was more difficult to cut around the circumference of the bottle. That was my own observation..Prefer the milk jugs. I have seen some people use a lot of 2 and 3 liter bottles and he used a band saw to cut his bottles in half and it seemed a neat way to do it. He was experienced in working with shop tools and it was a breeze for him. Would sure beat my cuts with the scissors or sheetrock/carpet knife. Make sure you add extra holes around the top of bottle for air circulation and moisture to get through(rain or snow)because those bottles tend to heat up more. You don't want any fried seedings.

When I use the 2 liter bottles, I use a "sharp" box cutter to cut the bottle around the circumference. Works like a champ.

Hi pippi, I find the seedlings are pretty easy to get out of the 1 or 2 liter, as long as the sides are straight. I abandoned any contoured bottles or containers, since it's a pain to get well-rooted seedlings out of those.

I like milk jugs too, but the plastic degrades quickly after a winter or 2 - get very brittle and breaks. Then you are back to collecting, cleaning and cutting more containers, and frankly I have enough chores and don't need any more. I've got 2 LTR bottles that are 4 years old and going strong.

I remember watching the video of Token using the band saw to cut his 2 LTR bottles - that was amazing (except how many people have band saws?).

A band saw! Hmmm....my neighbor has one of those.... :).

To cut mine I poked with a knife, then cut with scissors the rest of the way.

I only ended up with 12 2 liter bottles, but I'm interested to see how the seedlings do compared to those n flats. For every 2-liter bottle there is at least one additional sowing of the same batch of seeds in a flat.

I will definitely save my 2-liters for next year, though.

Thanks!