I love, LOVE, (repeat 100 times) greenhouses! One day when we have more room, there will be greenhouses in our yard! For now, these simple DIY bottle greenhouses made from cut plastic bottles are enough to keep me happy and inspired.
Yes they are the easiest “greenhouses” to make, and they will extend your growing season quite a bit. Today I want to share a few simple tips on how to use a DIY bottle greenhouse with more success!
It really can’t get any simpler. Just cut off the bottom of a plastic bottle, and unscrew the cap. That gives you a mini “greenhouse”!
Although it’s so simple, it is surprisingly effective at raising the temperature about 10+ (Fahrenheit) degrees, an easy way to give warm season plants a headstart such as tomatoes, peppers, eggplants
Here are 3 tips we found to be quite useful-
- select larger bottles such as gallon juice or water jugs, so plants can grow bigger in them for longer time if the weather is still cold
- leave the top cap off! The mini greenhouses can get too hot at noon if it’s completely enclosed. The best time to use them is when outside temperature ranges from 45 to 65 degrees Fahrenheit.
- when seedlings are still small, a good way to ensure that water can get to them is to create a soil basin larger than the bottom of the cut bottle, so water can seep through the basin, like in the photos below
Next week I will share a collection of my favorite DIY greenhouses!
And there’s a little present for garden lovers coming later this week( update: here it is!! Free vintage French seed packets printables! ) xo
Similar posts: Super Fast Way to Start Seeds! 
Do you think this would work to help revive an already sprouted plant that seems to be in “hibernation”?
yes! i have done that and it can help for sure! 🙂
Love this idea of reusing plastic bottles to make greenhouses!
Hi Ananda! great jo, you are really very innovative. I think it’s a very useful concept and important things we can use this concept at the Home from the waste of bottle.
Hey Ananda,
This is so helpful ideas. I have been wanting to start my garden and need some useful gardening tips. Seriously thanks for sharing these amazing ideas. I love it. Keep more update and more share useful information.
how do you water this?
just water around the edge. if plant is really small, make a basin slightly bigger than the bottle greenhouse. =)
I want to try this — saved some milk jugs. Wondering if direct seed sowing of tomatoes has been tried using the bottles? Love your site!
hi darlene, yes it works with direct seed, just make sure to leave the cap off so it does not get too hot in the bottle 🙂
I do something similar too! Only I keep the bottom, I push the top part back into the bottom so it is one piece again. Then I cut around the top, leaving one side uncut so it is like a flap. I start seeds like melons, squash, cucumber in that so I can just take the whole contraption outside and loosen the ground where I am planting, remove the bottom of the bottle and partially bury the bottle, about half way. The plant is protected by the bottle, and when it is too big for the green house I just cut that remaining side off on the top. This also helps with watering because I can water directly into the bottle. This way I can start those plants that do better direct seed because I do not try to pull the plant out of the bottle.
thank you LT for the great tips!! =)
I think you should do a yard crash… in Texas!!!!! I just love everything you do!
hi jill! i would love to crash texas and visit you!! xx
Love this idea! I don’t know why I never thought to recycle my bottles this way.
I do this at home too!
This is so cool! I’ll have to share this with my parents, they are always looking for fun ways to spruce up their garden/add more to it!
Wow, this is amazing!! One thing that I dislike the most about living in a condo is that I don’t have a backyard to do all of fun stuff! Hopefully one day I will have a huge background to have my own garden 🙂
thank you lindsay! we have always found great community gardens, try it! xx
This is amazing! I’m going to try it out with my kiddo ASAP! I also need to share it with my mom & like 5 million other people lol.
Hey Ananda…you’ve done it again- a simple and effective tip:) Thanks to your ‘fast seed’ tip- I had my first rocket salad from my back yard this week. The peas are doing well, too. I shall send you pics soon…hopefully:) xx
woohoo! yes i am looking forward to your garden photos arti! xoxo
Oh man, we just bought a house and are thinking about our garden so this is the perfect article for me to be reading right now!
What a great post! This would be so fun to do with my 2 year old – he would love it! 🙂 Pinning for later!
awesome! I can’t wait to get my garden started.
We are so excited to start our tomatoes this week! Will be making these! Thanks!
Hello Ananda,
As always, you have a great idea.
A great upcyling the bottles.
many Greetings
Uwe
Well that’s a handy way to do it! Thanks for the tips!
I have been using one gallon containers for years to cover my new seedlings when we
have a late frost. They work great!
great to know! they are easy and free! 🙂