How to DIY a bottle greenhouse to grow your microgreens at home

Insta gardener and Garden Hacks author Filip Johansson shares a fast and fun way to grow some delicious edibles

Garden Hacks: 70 Smart, Sustainable Tips for Gardeners by Filip Johansson, is available at Paper Plus

Microgreens have become very trendy. The word may sound high-tech, but they’re nothing more than delicate seedlings of regular plants. As they shoot up through the soil, they are bursting with nutrients. Not only are they delicious, they’re good for you, too. And you can grow them for next to nothing.

Skip the seeds from the garden centre; supermarkets stock everything you need for a tenth of the price. A bag of pea sprouts that costs £2–3 [NZ$4–6] in the shop can easily be grown at home for less than 50 cents. And with a mini bottle greenhouse, there is hardly any labour involved. Just fill the base with water when you sow and the plant will take care of itself.

You will need

Snap-off craft knife
Plastic bottle, 1.25L
Awl or nail
Discarded old-fashioned cotton mop
Scissors
Small pot, 10cm in diameter, with a hole in the bottom
Soil
Water
Seeds

How to build your bottle greenhouse

Cut off the top third of the plastic bottle. This will be the roof of your bottle greenhouse.
Make a hole in the bottle cap with the awl. This will act as a ventilation hole to prevent the bottle greenhouse from getting too humid.
Cut one or two strands from the mop with the scissors. Tuck them halfway through the drainage hole in the pot.
Fill the pot with soil.
Half-fill the base of the bottle with water. Place the pot so that it hangs freely and the mop strands are submerged in the water.
Sow your seeds and put the top over the pot.
Leave on a windowsill for about 14 days (a grow light may be necessary during the darkest months of the year). The mop strands will absorb water to keep the soil moist, so there’s no need for water. (You may need to water the soil once at the time of sowing for the water to be absorbed, but usually not.)
After 14 days, it’s time to harvest your microgreens.

Garden Hacks by Filip Johansson, $43.40, at Paper Plus