Plastic Bottle Greenhouse for Seedlings

A friend of mine surprised me with four little tomato seedlings the other day. I already have three tomato plants in my square foot garden and trust me that is a lot for this city girl! But I thought I'd give these little guys a shot. Problem is we kept them on the back of our kitchen sink for about a week, and I figured the occasional spray of water they were getting due to my haphazard dish-washing techniques was probably good for them. But I guess it was too much for one little guy.

So down to three seedlings I finally ventured out to the garden to put them in and try out this water bottle mini-greenhouse idea I had read about. Problem is I got around to picking strawberries first (yup, 2 more quarts!) and accidentally stepped on two of my seedlings!!! Note to self: Do NOT put the fragile teeny plants on the ground where you are walking! Whoops!

So I finally put them all in and assembled my little water bottle greenhouses around them. Around the biggest seeding I used a larger 2-liter bottle. But around the tiny ones I just put the regular 20 oz water bottles. The technique couldn't be simpler - you just cut off the bottom of the bottles and press the open bottom of the bottle into the ground until it's firmly in there. I had to plunk these guys in between the strawberry bed & the square foot gardens. Here's what they looked like:

Anyone ever tried anything like this? I'm hoping it'll help these little guys get a bit caught up since it's already almost July and they're just getting started! Once they get going more, I have some tomato trays that will go around them to hopefully help them continue quick growth. Keep your fingers crossed!

Oh, and just to inspire you, check out this water bottle greenhouse and the DIY instructions to build one of your own!

Growing Vertically

So I started this square foot garden thing this year and I am NOT a green thumb. I have relatively little experience gardening and loads less in building things. So when trying to envision what I could put in my garden to help my tomatoes and cucumbers grow vertically in my square foot garden I get easily overwhelmed! And since they are growing by leaps and bounds each day lately, this city girl realized she better get her rear in gear! I spent a lot of time searching online for vertical growing methods and found lots and lots of ways to build trellises and such but like I said, I'm not a builder! So I was THRILLED to find these ideas for staking my tomatoes and cucumbers to help them grow vertically in their little square foot of space. Think it'll work? I'm a tad bit worried about whether these will hold up under the weight of the fruit. What simple methods have you tried for vertical gardening? Got anything super easy? I'd love to hear it!