We all need a quick and easy DIY project to keep us inspired during the lockdown. This hanging propagation planter is a simple project that will show off your plantlings while keeping you inspired to propagate.
Which in turn leads to seeing growth when roots start forming.
Most of us have all the items we need at home to make this simple planter, but if you don’t here are a couple of places you could find the most pertinent materials.
Test Tube Vases: I’ve found these at one of my local craft stores. If you are in Pretoria, you can check out Ruby’s Haberdashery in Waverley or Brooklyn, alternatively, Newlands Accessories also stock these cute vases.
The rope and wood can be found at any hardware store, such as Builders Warehouse or Chamberlains.
In my opinion and please guide me, if you are a DIY’er, the item most people are least likely to have at home is the hole saw kit.
The Hole Saw Kit, is an inexpensive little kit to help you saw perfect holes using an electrical drill. If you don’t have one at home, I would highly recommend buying on. Takealot has them in stock for a hundred Rand!
How to Make a Hanging Propagation Planter:
Equipment
- Wood Saw
- Drill
- Hole Saw Kit
- Drill Bit (The size of your rope)
- Ruler
- Pencil
- Sand Paper
- Wood Varnish
- Paint Brush
Material
- 1 piece Wood: 4.5cm wide and the length of your choice.
- 1 piece Rope: 1 to 1.5 meters in length.
- 3 units Clear Test Tube Vases or more!
Planning your Project:
Measuring the Size of Your Glass Test Tubes
The first thing you need to do before starting the project is to ensure you have a hole saw bit that will make a hole the size of your test tubes.
In our case the vases were either too big or too small. In other words our drill bit wasn’t a perfect fit. So we found a workaround for this problem. (More on this later.)
Spacing and Sizing the Wood
My test tubes are 3cm in diameter and the piece of wood is 4.5cm wide.
If your test tubes are similar in size, you can simply use the below sizing guide to determine the spacing for your hanging propagation planter.
I’ve added 1.5 cm in between the vases, with a 2.5cm spacing at the ends of the piece to allow me to drill an additional hole for my rope.
How to Make a Hanging Propagation Planter
Once you’ve completed the planning and measuring, the fun part begins.
Using the instructions of the hole saw kit, drill the holes for the test tube vases. While we’re drilling, drill the end holes for your piece of rope.
Using sandpaper or a sander, give the wood a clean and smooth finish. Be sure to sand the edges of the holes.
Varnish the wood with a good quality wood varnish. In all fairness, I thought of skipping this step, however, realised I was bound to spill some water while watering my plantlings and, therefore, opted to apply a quick coat of varnish.
Weave your rope through the ends of the wood and secure the rope with a good old knot at the bottom of the planter.
Test Tube Vases
As mentioned previously, you want to ensure the test tube won’t fall through the hole, the chances of having a 100% fit is 10 to none.
Some Simple Ways to Ensure the glass vase stays within the allotted hole, include:
- Easiest by far: zip or cable ties in a light colour.
Fasten the zip tie around the glass vase, and cut the end piece.
- Twine or a rubber band will do the same thing.
- A pretty stone or pebble glued to the side of the vase to keep it from slipping through the hole.
Propagate Those Babies
If you are new to growing baby plants, an exciting new world is about to open up for you.
The main thing you want to remember is to take a cutting below a root node. The root node, is the section on the stem of a plant where a new leaf would normally emerge. It also happens to be the section of a plant where new roots will start to form.
I took a a few cuttings from my favourite plants around the house and started propagating these.
Some easy options to get you started are:
- Pothos
- String of Heart
- Philodendron Brazil or Sweetheart Vine
- Wandering Jew
- Spider Plants
- Ivy
Take a cutting from a healthy section of the plant and cut it below a node. You may need to remove some (most) of the bottom leaves of the cutting to encourage the plant to sprout roots.
Insert the cutting in the vase, fill with water.
Tip: Filtered water remains the best for propagation purposes. But a close second, is to allow normal tap water to stand for 24 hours before using the water for your plantlings.
Instruction Summary
- Planning your Project: Depending on the number of test tubes or the size of your piece of wood, you will need to space out the holes on the wood. Use the ruler; a pencil and a little math to determine the spacing requirements. **Save sufficient space at the end of the wood, to drill the holes for the rope. **
- Drill the Holes for the Test Tubes: Once you have your dimensions and calculations out of the way, use the hole drill kit to saw holes in the wood.
- Drill the holes for the rope.
- Finishing Touches: Sand the whole piece of wood down for a smooth finish.
- Varnish the wood with a good quality varnish. (You can skip this step, just bear in mind that you will have water vases in the holes and watering your plantlings may be a bit of a problem because wood swells when wet.)
- Drying Time: Give sufficient time for the varnish to dry before continuing to the next step.
- Assemble: Feed your rope through the holes at the end of the piece of wood. And make a sturdy knot at the ends to secure the rope.
- Insert the Test Tube Vases: Secure the test tube vases in the holes of wood refer to the tips above if you don’t have a secure fit.
Make your very own DIY Hanging Propagation Planter
If you decide to make this little DIY hanging propagation planter, please tag me on Facebook or Instagram! I would love to see your planter.
Sparrow at Heart 