Gardener David Domoney reveals how to make self-watering plant pots out of plastic bottles

One of the biggest expenses when you're a gardener, particularly if you have a balcony or courtyard garden, is plant pots.

And if you're growing seedlings or cuttings, small pots are particularly useful to help those baby plants thrive until they're big enough to plant in the ground.

It turns out we don't have to spend money to get new plant pots, or even head to a garden centre or hardware store because you can make them out of your recycling.

Gardener David Domoney showed how to turn empty plastic bottles into plant pots in a video on his TikTok channel.

Watch the video above.

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But he doesn't just chop off the bottom half of the bottle and that's it, the UK TV host transforms the bottle into a self-watering pot so you don't even have to worry about watering your seedlings.

To make the plant pots, Domoney cuts the bottle in half and then removes the lid from the top section of the bottle.

It's the top section, with the spout facing down, that you'll actually use as the pot for your seedling or cutting.

"What I'm going to do is put some string through the bottom (spout of the bottle). Now that's going to act as a wick – you can use string, you can use wool, anything that will suck up water – so I can plant this top section and then put it into the bottom section with a little reserve of water," he explained.

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While the plant isn't in the water, the string will consistently draw up moisture into the soil for the roots to access as needed. This ensures the cutting is never underwatered or overwatered, which are common causes of plant death.

If you don't have plastic bottles lying around, another way to save money on pots for seedlings and cuttings is to reuse black nursery pots.

The plastic pots we buy plants in can't be recycled, only re-used, so using them for cuttings and seedlings that saves them from ending up in landfill.

If you buy any seedlings, consider keeping the tiny pots they came in too as they are the perfect size for growing seeds in.