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Coke bottle tek: A terrarium technique


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EGA's new guide documents a simple, innovative and recyclable technique that anyone can use to easily grow plants from seed.

 

Coke bottle tek is a modification of the famous 'take-away tek', which uses plastic bottles for raising cacti and succulents from seed. Coke bottle tek is a set-and-forget technique, allowing plants to become more established with less human intervention, better preparing them for outdoor, in-ground environment and reducing the need for up-potting. Coke bottle tek also represents a more recyclable and environmentally friendly alternative to take-away tek.

 

This technique being used to successfully cultivate Trichocereus spp., Lophophora spp., Hylocereus spp., Gymnocalycium spp., Astrophytum spp., Ariocarpus spp., Ferocactus spp., and of course many different trees and herbs.

 

Halcyon and Dr Liam Engel are passionate ethnobotanists and longstanding members of The Corroboree forum.

 

If you find this resource helpful, please support EGA so we can make more!

Download the tutorial here: https://gardenstates.entheogenesis.org/coke-bottle-tek-a-terrarium-technique/

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There was a plastic-bottle terrarium craze in the '80s, when the 2L Coke bottles first came out (with a separate black plastic base, in those days). 

I think there's a SAB tek on using this method to propagate iboga. 

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On 29/09/2021 at 4:19 PM, fyzygy said:

There was a plastic-bottle terrarium craze in the '80s, when the 2L Coke bottles first came out (with a separate black plastic base, in those days). 

I think there's a SAB tek on using this method to propagate iboga. 

 

LOL... I feel old again reading that. Had armies of the black based terrariums. 

 

Thats a good resource for aspiring greenthumbs. 

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The original plastic Coke bottle (2L) with the black plastic base, eliminated all of these flange-interlocking dramas. Just saying. Maybe they should bring it back. The plastic was thicker, in those days. Sigh. 

 

I think the tall chamber might be good for growing iboga and other cuttings. Khat perhaps. Sally? In other words, reverse the order of tall/short, air/medium. Thoughts?

 

Do people bother microwaving their media for sterility? Maybe the activated charcoal works better (is rather expensive but)...

 

One advantage of this bottle container over the takeaway tek, is that the takeaway container base is too flexible. You can get miniature earthquakes in the substrate just by trying to prise the lid open. And actually it's that disturbance that kills a lot of young contenders, I find. 

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What not to do: sterilise your bottle in the microwave. Mine had been perfect, already packed with the moistened media, but then I thought to sterilise the lot (minus the upper plastic section) in the microwave. 90 seconds and things were looking just right. But then I gave it another 30 seconds for good measure, and the whole thing basically melted out of shape. I did manage to cram something together, in the end, just not as roomy or elegant or stable as it was before. That had easily been my most perfect coke-bottle terrarium to date. It definitely takes a bit of practice, cutting those bottles to fit.

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I'll go as far as to say that this is insane and goes against everything we've been told about mushroom cultivation.

 

But if its stupid and it works I suppose its not stupid. brb going to the farmers market for some oysters

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On 16/02/2024 at 1:18 AM, Halcyon Daze said:

Looks like coke bottle tek can be used for shrooms too  :lol:  (use captions). 

 

That is interesting, i don't really understand how the mycelium doesn't just get out competed and the straw contaminated in such a situation or why you would blend up the whole mushroom and not just the spore gill area to reduce potential contaminants to desired spore ratio, boiling then non* sterile handling and such.

 

I did look though the vid and there does seem to be a bit of discrepancy of the earlier bottles shown(cut marks/ribs etc) but that could just be down to angles,editing,best takes of top and side fruits.

 

Am interested to know if this method actually works and practical rates of success v failure if anyone tries it.

Edited by ZooL
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