A system for growing seedlings with drainage irrigation

It's important to prepare for the gardening season from early spring. As early as March, many gardeners begin germinating seedlings. In this tutorial, you'll learn how to create a device from a simple plastic bottle for growing even the most capricious seedlings.

 

To work you will need:

1. One plastic bottle of any size.
2. A sharp stationery knife.
3. A marker or pencil that draws on glass.
4. Gauze bandage.
5. Scissors.
6. Soil or sand.
7. Water.
8. Seeds or bulbs of plants.

How to create a drainage irrigation system for growing seedlings:

Each plant species requires its own growing conditions. Some plants prefer deep-rooted plants, requiring a larger container, while others have root systems that grow close to the soil surface, requiring a smaller container.

The first step requires cutting off a portion of the bottle from the bottom. It's best to cut off about two-thirds of the bottle. If the tray is deep, you can reduce it later, but increasing the height will be quite challenging and the work will have to be redone.

Cut a suitable section from the bottle neck. Calculating the size is fairly simple: the depth of the soil (depending on the plant variety you'll be growing), plus 2-3 cm for the rim. The sides of the bottle should extend above the soil by this distance for watering and loosening.

If you're using a small bottle, cut the neck off where it widens the most. If the diameter of the cut-off part of the neck is smaller than the diameter of the tray, the system won't work; the top part will simply fall into the bottom.

Turn the top section upside down and fit it over the base. The gap between the bottom and the neck of the bottle should be about 5 cm; if it's larger, reduce the height of the base slightly.

Thread a bandage through the neck of the bottle; it should hang down to the bottom of the second part and act as a drain through which water will flow into the ground.

Unwind another 30-40 cm of bandage and press it tightly into the neck of the bottle so that the soil does not spill out through this hole into the lower part of the system.

Fill the top of the device with soil, sand, or sawdust. The choice of soil depends on the type of seeds you want to grow, so refer to the planting recommendations for your specific plant.

Add half a glass of water to the system, allowing the soil to soak for a while. Fill the bottom of the system with water up to the neck. The inserted gauze will allow water to penetrate the soil and nourish the seedling roots.

Then plant the seeds in the prepared system. If the crops are particularly fussy, you can fertilize the prepared soil with special mixtures.

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