Bean in a Bottle - 02/21/2015

I was planning to do an update of the roof top garden but it's been so rainy and windy, it has been hard to take pics.  The garden has also taken a beating from this rough weather.  I'll update later and share pics of eggplants, more leafy greens, lady bugs and even praying mantis.   For now, here's a story of my bean in a bottle.

My coworker showed me how to make a planter out of wine bottle.  We managed to get some donated wine bottles :-).  First you make a score along the glass bottle with the bottle cutter gadget, then (after seeing it done on YouTube) you pour hot water, then cold water on the glass to stress it.  Eventually, the glass will split on the cut line. Once the glass cracks correctly, you get a beautifully cut (and sharp) split bottle. I have to admit that not all of the bottles cracked nicely but I did manage to get a few. 

With some water on a sand paper so you don't breath in glass dust, sand the two cut edge of the bottle until smooth and won't cut your hand.  The shape of the bottle is important as red/blush wine bottles works best as it has a good cup shape so it sits nicely on the bottle and provides good area for the soil to go in. Also, the darker bottles don't grow green algae growth as quickly as clear bottles.

To set up the planter, I put some leftover window screen mesh my coworker had from changing out window screen.  I cut a hole in the center of the mesh and thread laundry line thru the hole and tied a knot.  The mesh screen keeps the cord and soil from falling thru the hole on the bottom. The cord is used to absorb water into the soil and keeps the soil nice and wet.  I used only one piece of cord folded once so there are two leads into the water. Next, fill with soil and add a plant then fill the bottom with some water.

Here is one I made w/ a bubble drink cup I had.  The basil was leftover from my Pho order.  NO care is needed, I just have to add water on the bottom once a week and that's it.  I didn't have to do anything and just left it near the window.  Unfortunately, since the basil plant was kept indoor, it never got any larger than this and it was best to transplant to the ground to continue to grow.  

We tried with different herbs from seed and nothing ever took... until we got pole bean seeds from the dried up beans we found from the roof top garden. It started to sprout quickly and started to crawl, so I ended up having to construct a 'ghetto-style trellis'.

After a little over a month by my window,  I was surprised to see a flower bud!!

I couldn't believe that after the flower died, it became a BEAN!!  Here is my ghetto trellis 2.0 using long drinking straws and bbq sticks.

The bean grew quickly..

After almost 2 weeks, I harvested it.  I still can't believe I grew this from a bottle planter..