How to Make a Weed Bottle
Nov. 24th, 2024 11:41 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ysabetwordsmithDr. Beal made the first weed bottles to study long-term viability. Most humans think of weeds as bad. I think of them as A) bandage plants that fix fucked up terrain and B) an emergency core of plants that are extremely hard to kill off should the rest of the biosphere collapse like it has multiple times in the past.
So if you're worried about the current extinction event, you could take steps to preserve some of the hardiest plant species in bottles that may later be unearthed by digging animals, landslides, floods, or other events. This would allow plants to recolonize barren land. I would recommend choosing weed species that have diverse uses (e.g. dandelion, chicory) over those that are noxious (e.g. poison ivy). The verbascum genus (mullein & relatives) has proven extremely durable and mullein is a useful herb. Here's another list of oldest viable seeds. Also favor species native to your locale and/or the next zone or two warmer than your current zone to allow for climate change. You can use this map to estimate what your locale will be like in 60 years and plan accordingly.
First, get a glass bottle with a narrow mouth. Next, get some damp sand. This can be garden center sand or you can dig down to your subsoil for it. For each bottle, gather about 25-50 fresh viable seeds (this will be easiest in late summer through fall) from 20+ useful weed species. Mix the seeds thoroughly with the sand. Funnel the sand into the bottle. Leave the neck open. Bury the bottle at least 1-2 feet deep with the neck slightly tilted downward so it can't fill up with water. For location, consider places that are stable now but may become unstable as climate change worsens; for example, on a slope or 10-20 feet from the current highwater mark of a river prone to flooding. Then forget about it, your task is done.
So if you're worried about the current extinction event, you could take steps to preserve some of the hardiest plant species in bottles that may later be unearthed by digging animals, landslides, floods, or other events. This would allow plants to recolonize barren land. I would recommend choosing weed species that have diverse uses (e.g. dandelion, chicory) over those that are noxious (e.g. poison ivy). The verbascum genus (mullein & relatives) has proven extremely durable and mullein is a useful herb. Here's another list of oldest viable seeds. Also favor species native to your locale and/or the next zone or two warmer than your current zone to allow for climate change. You can use this map to estimate what your locale will be like in 60 years and plan accordingly.
First, get a glass bottle with a narrow mouth. Next, get some damp sand. This can be garden center sand or you can dig down to your subsoil for it. For each bottle, gather about 25-50 fresh viable seeds (this will be easiest in late summer through fall) from 20+ useful weed species. Mix the seeds thoroughly with the sand. Funnel the sand into the bottle. Leave the neck open. Bury the bottle at least 1-2 feet deep with the neck slightly tilted downward so it can't fill up with water. For location, consider places that are stable now but may become unstable as climate change worsens; for example, on a slope or 10-20 feet from the current highwater mark of a river prone to flooding. Then forget about it, your task is done.
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Date: 2024-12-04 04:48 am (UTC)I think it is a slightly different thing than these, but one could probably use hardy weeds in a greenhouse bottle too.