i actually made 4 upside down ones, and 4 right side up plants,
with 2 big bottles and 2 lil bottles.
one of the ones in the lil bottle died.
it's been raining heavily, and i've been quite protective.
i keep moving them into the garage for the night, but my mum says they should be fine and won't get flooded coz they have drainage holes.
ah wellies.
i should stop doin that then... coz i forget to put them back out in the morning, so they dont get sun. I did this for one day, and my mum put them out today.
okiesssss, bye

drainage holes.
i was going to use a drill (see comments to method), but i had to wait till my dad got home to ask him to do it. when he got home, he simply got a screwdriver and stabbed holes in the bottle.
I WAS TRYING FOR AGES WITH A HAMMER AND SHARP NAIL, and he just does it in a sec.
great.

materials i used

Bought the seedlings from BigW today.
they didn't have a variety of peas- only 2 types.
I chose honeysnap peas.
have started collecting used bottles.
anyone want to donate?

here's a model of what cutting off the 'rocket bottom' was. You can't really see the opening (on the left), but there is one there.

I'll take better pics when i'm doing the real experiment (which i have to start!!!!!!)

I already tried putting soil in it, for some reason...

oh yeah, to see if the soil would fall out of the hole.

it didn't, but even if it did, i don't think it'd fall out in the real experiment because the plant would have taken up most of the room.

going to study for test now- haven't started.

BYEE!

METHOD

Materials needed: soil, 4 empty soft drink bottles of the same colour, sharp cutting scissors, 4 seedlings (all should be at the same stage of growth development), hammer and nail, 2 long thin ropes or strong string (should be strong enought to support the weight of the hanging plant)

METHOD
1. Gather all equipment
2. Take all wrappings and lids of the bottles.
3. Cut the top off one of the bottles, using the scissors.
4. Using the hammer and nail, make 3 drainage holes at the bottom of the bottle.
5. Fill one quarter of the bottle with soil.
6. Carefully place one of the seedlings in the soft drink bottle.
7. Fill the remainder of the bottle with soil.
8. Repeat steps 3-5 with another bottle and seedling.
9. Place the plants in an area that gets at least 6 hours of sunlight a day, preferably morning sunlight.
10. Using the nail and hammer, make two small holes in the sides of another bottle. The holes should be 7-10 cm from the end of the bottle, should be on opposite sides of the bottle, and should be large enough for the rope/string to fit through it.
11. Cut the bottom off the bottle, so that the 'rocket bottom' (lumps on the bottom) are cut off, and the wide opening is circular. This opening will be used for planting the seedling, adding soil, and watering.
12. Thread the thin rope/ strong string through the holes.
13. Tie the ends of the roipe together and hang the bottle at the same place as the other bottles with plants in them. The opening of the neck of the bottle should be facing downwards.
14. Carefully place another seedling in the hanging bottle, with the shoot going through the smaller opening, and the roots pointing up.
15. Fill the remainder of the bottle with soil.
16. Repeat steps 8-13 with the remaining seeling and bottle.
17. Water all plants, ensuring they each get an equal amount of water.
18. Regularly water the plants, making sure they all get an equal amount of water.
19. Record all observations of each of the plants and repeat after each week. These should include the height of the plants, growth direction, any changes to the colour, shape or size of the plants, and growth speed.

OMGGGGG!
i am so stupid!!!
all this time, i've been thinking,
'ah, i have like, 3 weeks to watch plants grow from seeds'
but i looked up some sites that showed how to grow plants upside down, and NONE of the grew their plants from seeds! They're all just seedlings, or young plants.
WHY DIDN"T THIS OCCUR TO ME BEFORE?
ah well, it'll be easier now.

PEAS!!!!

ok, I've decided, that since tomato isn't in season, I'll use peas, which ARE in season! "The pea is a green, pod-shaped vegetable, widely grown as a cool season vegetable crop. The seeds may be planted as soon as the soil temperature reaches 10 °C (50 °F), with the plants growing best at temperatures of 13 to 18 °C (55 to 64 °F). They do not thrive in the summer heat of warmer temperate and lowland tropical climates but do grow well in cooler high altitude tropical areas. Many cultivars reach maturity about 60 days after planting. Generally, peas are to be grown outdoors during the winter, not in greenhouses. Peas grow best in slightly acidic, well-drained soils." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pea
Slightly acidic, well-drained soils I have, because I'm planning to use my compost which doubles up as a toilet for my rabbit, so I think that's ok :) I'll just do common pea. Image shown above.

Climate Graph