How to Build a Vertical Garden from Soda Bottles

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Last Updated: April 16, 2024 Approved

Here is a way to maximize your limited porch or garden space by growing vertically. You'll learn to make drip-irrigating garden towers out of recycled 2-liter soda bottles. This method works well for growing flowers, herbs, and small veggies.

Part 1

Part 1 of 4:

Create a Base for the Tower

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Make the cut a bit below where the label ends, ideally so that a tiny bit of the bottom curve inward is preserved. This will help the bottles nest tightly together when you stack them. Discard base of bottle
How big? No bigger than the diameter of a Bic pen.^{[1]
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Leave an inch of space at the top of the bottle.^{[2]
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Part 2

Part 2 of 4:

Build the Tower Levels

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Remove the cap and discard.

Part 3

Part 3 of 4:

Create a Drip Irrigation System

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This bottle will be shorter than the others, and will serve as a funnel for watering.
This will be the watering bottle.

Part 4

Part 4 of 4:

Plant and Grow

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(Each side of the square should be about 1.5-2 inches.) Leave the bottom of the square uncut, and instead fold down the flap. This creates a valve to hold the soil and seedling in.^{[4]
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On the funnel bottle do you also put a hole in the cap, or is it removed?

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Yes, the funnel bottle has a cap with a hole in it. One professor suggested filling the funnel bottle with a handful of sand to help filter the water.

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Would this be good for cantaloupes or other melons?

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No. The fruit is too heavy and will pull the structure down. Similarly, pumpkins and other large varieties of squash also won't do well in a vertical garden. These types of plants prefer to sprawl over long, horizontal distances rather than vertical.

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Could I grow strawberries this way using bigger bottles?

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You certainly could; you could use the same format but use gallon milk jugs. Each one can have three or four strawberry plants in it, just cut more "windows."

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Tips

If the watering bottle ceases to drip, check the drainage hole in the cap for clogging.

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Try adding a handful of sand to the watering bottle to slow the drip rate and allow more gradual and efficient watering.

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Wondering what to plant? This method can work for growing smaller veggies such as lettuce, arugula, dandelion greens, beets, radishes, beans, or peas. Also try various herbs or medicinal plants (aloe, parsley, mint, basil, oregano) and flowers (marigolds and zinnias do very well).

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