Repurpose Empty Water Bottles To Help Prop Up Drooping Plants

Maintaining good posture isn't just a challenge for humans. It's a real struggle for some plants too. Several types of palm trees are prone to growing sideways. Top-heavy peonies face-plant themselves on sidewalks each spring. Humidity-craving species may droop when they find the air too dry. Tall plants often benefit from a supportive pool noodle when gravity's bringing them down, but shorter specimens may need a different approach when their leaves or branches start to sag. Essentially, they need a hug rather than a stake to lean upon. A foliage-encircling collar made from a plastic bottle can help them pull themselves together.

If you'd like to fashion a supportive collar for one small-to-medium plant's floppy foliage, you'll need a plastic bottle that holds about 16 to 20 ounces of liquid. This bottle should be easy to cut with a scissors, so the disposable type made of thin, clear plastic is ideal. The construction process involves removing a cylindrical section from the middle of the bottle and then making a lengthwise cut to make an adjustable brace. A larger version can be made from a larger plastic container — for example, a 2-liter soda bottle. You could also tape a few of these collars together to make a model that fits a lanky plant with a case of the flops. This style of brace pushes together the plant's splayed stems so they assume a more vertical position, much as a vase does for a bouquet. Since plastic water and soda bottles handle outdoor conditions pretty well, you can use this plant collar on landscaping plants as well as houseplants.

To start making your adjustable plant collar, cut off any parts of the bottle that are tapered. This includes its neck and about an inch of its bottom. Scissors are good tools for this task, but a utility knife can also get the job done. You'll be left with a plastic cylinder that has no top and no base. Make a straight vertical cut from top to bottom. As demonstrated by Illawarra Yard Maintenance, this will produce a rectangle of plastic that curls like a cuff-style bracelet. 

At this point, it's time for your plant to try on its stylish new accessory. Gently gather plant's foliage and slide the collar around it to test the fit. If the collar is too tall, remove some plastic from the top edge of the rectangle. If it's too wide, try using a smaller bottle. If more support is needed, make an identical collar and duct-tape it to the first one so the finished product is twice as tall as the original. Then have your plant try it on. Reduce the rectangle's height until your plant seems well supported.

As you build this handy brace for your plant, try to figure out the cause of the drooping. Could your plant be wilting from thirst, begging you to correct a common garden-watering mistake? Is just the top of the plant looking droopy? This may be a sign of root rot. As it turns out, putting plastic bottles in the bottom of the pot could fix the problem if it's not too advanced. That's because the bottles can improve the container's drainage.