A new take on S/H pots

[Drewzella]

Hello All,

I have recently started growing phals again as a result of accumulating a few woe begotten box store refugees. I knew I wanted to grow them in s/h since I had some success with it in years past. BUT I always hated the look of those hideous plastic pots. I just like things to look simplistic and visually appealing. And I was never crazy about the idea of putting a pot inside of a pot to mask the deli container growing setup. SO... I had this idea which I am totally in love with to make recycled glass s/h pots. I use clean, empty wine bottles, cut them to size with a glass cutter, polish the edges, and then cut a slash into the side with a diamond dremel bit. It may sound intimidating, but its actually very easy (provided of course that you don't drink said wine just before starting this project). This way I find the pot as a whole more pleasing and can be grown with pride on my windowsill or countertops. The phals pictured aren't in the best shape, but they've only been in s/h for a few days. Let me know what you guys think of this and if anyone's interested I can post a DIY pictorial guide to making them yourself!

Thanks!

[ECC_lectic]

Love the idea! I've been doing something similar, but with dollar-store tumbler glasses. I use a diamond burr drill bit (for drilling porcelain tiles and stone) in a drill press to drill holes in the glass. It's a two-person job - the other person needs to constantly spray the drill bit and the glass with water. Great task for a pre-teen kid, just make sure they wear safety glasses in case something goes wrong. I've never had glass shatter and go flying, but I've had it crack. You need to be extremely slow and steady while lowering the drill press.

These burr bits will also drill through clear acrylic glasses without shattering them. Again, you need to spray water on the drill bit and go very slow.

[Brutal_Dreamer]

Very nice looking containers. Sounds difficult. I would love a tutorial with photos. I could make it an article for the library.

cheers,
BD

[aliknit3]

I would love to know about making the glass pots! They are beautiful!

[Gurj]

Good job!
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[raybark]

Alla - If you do the drilling with the glass and bit under water, you greatly reduce the likelihood of breakage. When I was in school (I'm a ceramic engineer by education), we used to demonstrate by cutting microscope slide slip glass (really thin) with scissors. It seems that the water molecules race in to the microscopic fracture and bind with the exposed bonding sites, reducing the stress.

I use a plastic tub full of water that's about 1/4" deeper than the height of the glass vessel. That way it becomes a 1-man job on the drill press.

[tucker85]

I love the look of those pots! The process sounds a little intimidating to me but you've obviously done a great job. Bravo!

[Chris1140]

Sounds like a great idea.

[Drewzella]

Thanks for the positive feedback everyone!
I will try to put together a tutorial sometime this week. The method that I use for this is actually very easy and inexpensive. What I really love about this project is that you can customize every single pot to an individual plant by adjusting the height or choosing a wider bottle...And its a great excuse to try new wines based solely on the shape or color of their bottles!

[OrchidAddict]

This is AWESOME!!!! My sister-in-law actually works with glass, and she could make some absolutely A-MA-ZING decorative orchid pots using some of the techniques you've described. Please, please do post a tutorial!! She has lots of decorative glass, so she could even up the "decorative" factor by slumping some of her pretty glass over a wine bottle to create a mock-vase, then drilling the holes.

At any rate, yours are absolutely stunning. A beautiful, beautiful solution to the usual icky plastic pot look!!! WAY TO GO!!!