How to Build a Greenhouse Made From Plastic Bottles
93Here is a step by step guide on how to build a plastic bottle greenhouse, for those of you with the time and patience to collect enough empty plastic bottles to construct one.
Making this type of greenhouse is cheap but is quite an undertaking in terms of labour and the time it will take, and is perhaps best left to community organisations and schools.
Don't let that put you off. There is no reason why everyone should not have such a wonderful PET plastic construction in their yard.
PET stands for Polyethylene terephthalate which is the type of plastic approved worldwide for plastic bottles intended for the drinks industry.
Advantages of a Plastic Bottle Greenhouse
- It's cheap to construct. You will need approximately 1400 empty 2litre (40oz) plastic bottles to build a greenhouse that is 8' x 6'. Even if you don't use that many, you can collect them from neighbours, friends, hotels, bars and restaurants in your area.
- It is self-watering. Because there are gaps at the tops of the bottles, and heavy rain can certainly penetrate from where the bottles lie side by side. This is a huge time saver for greenhouse growers, and rainwater is always better for your plants than tap water.
- It raises the temperature by about 10 degrees centigrade compared to outside. That is a huge difference and should certainly lengthen the growing season for many plants, no matter what climate you live in.
- It saves landfill sites from yet more plastic waste. Goes without saying that if everyone saved those plastic PET bottles for constructions like greenhouses, there would be none to clutter up landfill sites.
- It is cheap and easy to repair. Simply replace the plastic bottle that has broken or been damaged by missiles or animals. All your bottles are hooked onto either wire or a cane or sticks, so unhook the line, slide out the bottles including the broken one(s), and replace with a fresh one.
- It is strong and can withstand strong winds. Plastic bottles can't get blown away when they are pinned into place. The strength of your structure will depend entirely on how well the lines of bottles are anchored.
How to Build a Plastic Bottle Greenhouse
The bottles are washed to remove labels, then the bottoms are cut off. You will need to remove the bottle lids too.
Thread your bottles through whatever medium you choose to use to hold them in a line.
That can be bamboo canes, or lengths of stick (they need to be slim enough to feed through the bottle opening), or wire.
All the greenhouses i have seen built with plastic PET bottles have used a wooden frame, which is surprisingly not terribly 'green' as trees have to be cut down to provide the frame. It also requires constructing, and that would mean calling in a joiner or woodworker in my case anyway. I am still thinking of alternatives to wood.
Once you have your basic frame, you then connect your canes or sticks with the interlocked plastic bottles already fitted, to the frame.
Another way to build your greenhouse would be to interlock all the plastic bottles together, one on top of the other, as above, with the bottoms cut out to make a tighter fit, but without a central support.
Instead horizontal wires can be attached both inside and outside the green house to hold the bottles in position, as shown in the photo below.
You will note that in this project the lids were left on the bottles, and I must admit I quite like that idea as it is one less place for insects to enter and make themselves at home.
Can you imagine how horrible going into your new plastic bottle greenhouse would be if you were confronted every time by nests of insects in the walls? Quite apart from the aesthetic appearance, a good deal of light would be cut out.
Plastic bottles greenhouses can also be insulated to keep out cold draughts, and to cut down on self-watering when it rains.
Bubble-wrap which you can buy in rolls from any local DIY store does the job really well.
As you can see from the above photos, making greenhouses from plastic bottles seems to be popular as community efforts, but I would like to build one for myself, primarily because of its cheap construction.
In Europe, building plastic bottle greenhouses has become a popular past-time for many. I have been unable to locate information as to whether the plastic bottles stand up well under a hot sun, which is normal where I live in southern Spain.
Plastic bottle houses stand up very well in sunny conditions in hot countries, but the plastic is not really exposed to a lot of sun, being filled first with sand and then covered by mortar. Filling with sand is NOT an option for a greenhouse as it then becomes a garden shed or something!
If any architect reads here, I would welcome your opinion, before I go to the effort of collecting thousands of empty plastic bottles.
How to Build a Greenhouse using Plastic Bottles
Get started on your plastic bottle collection
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A plastic bottle greenhouse
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Very interesting and creative. Perfect for going a little more "Green".
I really want one of those now! I think they are a superb idea, and I don't know why I didn't think of it before now!
Wow thats really creative! I would never have imagined a green house made of plastic bottles! Good hub.
Thanks, it wasn't my idea but I wish it was!
How neat is this? I have never seen one. Great hub.
How fun! This looks amazing! Thank you for sharing. Voted up, etc.
You're welcome and thanks for commenting. It is great idea for using up plastic bottles!
Izzy - as is known you have a green thumb but this plastic greenhouse has taken your gardening skills to new heights. Brilliant and smart. I am officially saving my bottles and someday hopefully I can send you some pictures to add to this wonder of a hub! Thumbs up in every direction!
Great idea, send the photos to add in here! Plastic bottle greenhouses are definitely the way forward.
I remember when I was in Africa several years ago one of the local breweries was experimenting with square bottles so as to enable the locals to use the empty bottles filled with dirt to be used as bricks to build with!
But I love this idea for a greenhouse built of plastic bottles.
The Africans have perfected the technique of building using normal round plastic bottles - http://izzym.hubpages.com/hub/How-to-Build-a-House
These homes look great. But I think the greenhouses will be more practical for the rest of us.
Oh wow, 1400 bottles and i always thought plastic was not ecofriendly. Though it looks lots of work but in end it must have given you a lot of pleasure to make it so beautiful and useful.
Yes its a lot of work but well worth it, and a great way to use those plastic bottles up.
Fantastic, I'm going to make one of these on my allotment!
They are a great idea for allotments, because if they get vandalised, it is cheap and easy to replace the plastic.
This is so cool! Such a unique idea.
It's a great idea, isn't it? And not mine despite what some of the commenters seem to think - I just wish it was!
i loved it might tell my mother-in-law she might get a kick out it. loved it!!!
the best thing in this economy i can't thing of anything better a perfect family and community project.
loved it!!!
My feelings too :)
I've never heard of this before but what an absolutely brilliant idea! We don't use many plastic bottles and when we do they always seem to be different sizes and shapes. I can see I'm going to have to buy some more and standardize!
Thanks for sharing such a wonderful recycling plan. Great hub.
Good to see so many folk like yourself liking this idea. I do too, I think it's wonderful! Happy collecting!
This is an AWESOME hub...I have always wanted to put up a greenhouse and was thinking of doing so with old windows, but this idea is really cool. Thanks for sharing it!!! :)
Thank you :) I am now collecting plastic bottles myself. I have 3 so far.
Great idea. but what is a PET bottle?
Wow! Amazing idea to build a Greenhouse... Thanks for sharing your ideas!
@ Warren, oops I missed putting that in this hub (I have another hub on how to build a house using PET bottles, and put it there). PET stands for Polyethylene terephthalate which is the type of plastic approved worldwide for human drinks like Coca-cola.
@Troy, thanks for taking the time to comment and yes great idea and great way to use up those PET bottles.
A really funny idea!
What a great idea!
wow, this is amazing, wonder what the folks would say if i built one at the allotment
They'd love it! I'd get collecting too, if I were you!
This is a great way to use the plastic bottles. Thanks for sharing. Take care :)
Thank you for reading and taking the time to comment :)
I LOVE this. I want one, one day. (Nowhere to put it now..) Could be a great Eagle scout project for a school or community center, though...
Also, was thinking about the wood frame problem. What if it were constructed in more of an upside down U shape, like a those arched steel buildings people use for warehouses? You might still need something for framing the ends, but this could be recycled material as well. And I don't see why, if you built it with the wood framing, you couldn't get recycled studs from a demo site, if you wanted to. :) Just some thoughts. Love the idea! Thanks so much for sharing!!
Like the polytunnels you mean? I don't see why not, plastic bottles can be flexible and fit on any shape of frame. Great ideas!
this is a very cool hub... I want one of these plastic bottle greenhouses! thanks for contributing this knowledge.
Me too, and thanks!
thank you, good hub voted up
What an awesome idea! so cool! voted up, aesome, interesting, useful, and shared!
Anything that can keep these plastics out of landfills gets my votes. This is a great innovative idea to use them in helping to construct greenhouses. Voted useful and interesting.
This is an awesome idea. I am inspired to try it out so will start saving bottles and will ask my friends and work colleagues to save also. Thank you for this great hub, I have voted up and shared!!!
Thanks folks for the comments. I have collected 4 sackfuls of plastic bottles towards my own project so far. I, too, think it is a fantastic idea (not my own obviously) and glad you agree!
That is such a great idea and hub! Voted up!
Thanks audra :)
Great hub! I would love to try this. Looks like something the whole family can do together with little engineering or carpentry skills. Thanks for sharing. Voted up, useful and interesting.
This sounds super cool. I would have liked to see a video on how to build the frame since that seems to be the hardest part.
I found this hub by Fennelseed's link and i am so glad that I did .
Amazing and priceless.
I vote up here without a doubt.
Take care and enjoy your day.
Eddy.
Yes a video would be great, if there's none out there, I will certainly consider making one. Thanks everyone for commenting, and thanks Fennelseed for linking it (where is it linked?)
Excellent!
Thanks for reading :)
This is such a cool idea!
This is brilliant!!! I want one! This is one of those..."Why didn't I think of that?" things. I don't use any plastic bottles like this, but maybe I'll have to tell my aunts and cousins to start saving theirs for me. This could be a fantastic project!
I've just had a screaming fit at him because I was saving my plastic bottles in bin bags in the utility room, which is open aired and hot from the sun, and he has been putting bottles in their without washing them out first! Takes 2 minutes to rinse them, but once that sugar has baked on in the sun, it is almost impossible to get the lids off to clean. Got them all washed and stored away in the basement now. I have plans for a lean-to plastic greenhouse, even if it takes me years to get it!
But yeah this would make a great community project to get involved in.
Such a neat idea. How creative is this. I love it but I have just one of those plain ole greenhouses. This would be great in the south for veggies.
Glass greenhouses are fantastic, but expensive. This is second-best to a real greenhouse, IMO, and only costs a fraction of the price. All you might pay out for is the framework, and maybe bubblewrap for insulation. Almost certainly less than $50 all in.
This is a great hub. I had to bookmark it! I was recently looking into green houses but buying them is so expensive! This came at the perfect time! Thank you!
Vote up and SHARED.
Collecting all the bottles is probably the hardest bit, or maybe the cutting them up and stringing them into place, but glad to have helped. I'm sure with the help of neighbors and friends you will have one up in no time at all :)
That was absolutely fascinating. I am always looking for things like this but had never heard of this...what a great idea and what a great hub! Thank you!
And thank you for taking the time to read and comment :) I am still wondered how those PET bottle will stand up to extensive sunlight and heat like we get here in the south of Spain. Even plastic garden chairs give up the ghost after a few years because they harden and crack in the sun. If you know, or know anyone who knows, let me know before I go to the effort of building a greenhouse made out of plastic bottles. I know most greenhouse plants grow outdoors here, but the winters are still cold and windy - an extra month or so would make all the difference to the growing season.
Wow!! This is something really amazing. Thanks for the idea. You've provided everything here...:)
Such a simple idea too! Its one of those that you think to yourself "Wow! Why didn't I think of that?" Thanks for commenting :)
This idea totally rocks! My mom just spent a ridiculous amount of money on a tiny green house that took forever to construct. This one makes way more sense. I'm going for it. Thanks so much for this post.
You've got a valid point. I once put together an 8' x 6' greenhouse and it was a major construction, that was after paying well over $1000 for it too. At least with the work involved with the plastic bottle greenhouse construction, the costs were minimal beforehand.
oh this is cool! I have a metal frame greenhouse with poly walls. When the walls degrade (here in the south US, they always do) I can replace it with bottles strung on wire, affixed to the frame. Suh-weet!
FANTASTIC IDEA! I love this - and would love to build one!
Pinned, plussed and tweeted.
Hey scarletqueen, that is a perfect solution for you! Even with aluminium frames you'll be able to find a good sturdy way to attach them.
@Dorsi, thanks a million. I have just had a huge rush of views from Pinterest so it must have been down to you. Many thanks!
This is an awesome idea! I wouldn't be able to make one on a large scale in my yard, but I could make a smaller one to suit our gardening needs. Voted up, useful and awesome!
Thanks! Its a great way to use all those plastic bottles up too, instead of just binning them for a landfill site :)
Very creative idea and it save the plastic bottles from going into the landfills which don't degrade overtime.
Izzy) It was lol!! Hey, can I feature your hub at my new site: www.granniesgreenliving.com? This is exactly the type of cool stuff I want to put on the site.
Glad you got a rush of traffic - people are repinning this like crazy!
Hey networmed, thanks for reading and commenting.
@Dorsi, yes you are welcome to use this hub. Do you want me to write an intro for it, or are you happy to do that yourself? I've also got a hub on plastic bottle houses which may be of interest?
Hey Izzy a intro by you would be awesome then I will put the links to your hubs. Yes both would be great!!
I'll try and get them written up tomorrow then (it's too late tonight and I am tired). I owe you one! I am still getting hits here from Pinterest!
Oh no rush Izzy. Later in the week even is fine. I've got a busy day Monday and Tuesday so mid-week till end of week works great. Glad you are getting lots of hits from Pinterest. Hope it translates into some $$ !
What an awesome idea, I love it. Voted up, interesting, useful and sharing :)
That is a great idea!
Hey thanks everyone for reading and commenting!
Dorsi, I will mail you :)
Brilliant and creative use of plastic bottles!! Great Hub thanks!
You should check out this creative use too - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOl4vwhwkW8
Ah yes the plastic bottle lights for aluminium roofed homes. Not much help to us in the West but a good idea all the same for those in the sub-continent living in poverty.
oh I love this! Great hub and most excellent topic.
Cheers :)
Hahaha pretty amazing stuff. Great job.
It really is a super idea! Thanks for reading :)
Hats off !!! really creative and cool idea. i feel to own one such.
This is really interesting!
Interesting idear! :-) Thanks for sharing
Thanks for sharing. I'd like to try this.
Its an interesting idea that should work really well. I asked in my own hub above if PET plastic would withstand the ravages of the sun, and am now told it will, better than any other plastic (thinking of plastic garden chairs that split and break after a couple of years in the sun). PET plastic really is top quality stuff with so many more uses than just filling with soft drinks.
This is great. Nevermind the eco-benefits. This is nerdy-cool. Way to go.
Nerdy-cool! Love it! Thanks :)
what an amazing hub. The children in one of our local primary schools recently built a greenhouse out of plastic bottles.
Thanks firefly, yes it makes for a great community project and kids would no doubt learn a lot by getting involved. Well done them!
This is so cool! I can just picture it. Do you weigh it down somehow so that the wind doesn't blow it away? Or is it heavier than it looks. Either way, very neat!
What a creative idea! I'd hate to try to find that many empty bottle though.
Very interesting idea!
What an amazing idea!Thanks for sharing it.Useful and voted up!
Thanks for the comments. A plastic bottle greenhouse will not need anchored because it is built on a solid frame and each line of bottles is carefully pegged into place, plus there are an awful lot of bottles so it will be quite heavy anyway. I have collected about 6 sackfuls of bottles, each holding about 8 bottles, and while there is hardly any weight in any of them, that is still only 48 bottles. To build the full 8' x 6' greenhouse I need a total of 1400 bottles and that must weight a few lbs!
Very nice and helpful Hub Page. I plan on doing this and I have been working on it for a while now. I found this Hub Page filled with interesting and helpful information. Thanks. Also voted up across the board. Again thanks for doing this wonderful Hub Page on a subject that really interests me.
Hey please send me a photo of your completed project and I will add it here (or if you write a hub I will link it). My plans are on hold as I have just moved countries and so the bottle collecting will stop until I return which may be years away. Meanwhile, there is a community garden very close to where I am now, and they may well be interested in making a plastic bottle greenhouse in addition to their poly tunnels.
I will send you a photo when completed.
That would be great! Thank you very much :)
Wesman Todd Shaw 6 months ago
SWEET!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I love this!