Turn An Old Solar Light Into The Cutest Succulent Planter

If you have a garden or even just a few pots on your balcony, it's highly likely that you've purchased a few solar lights over the years. After all, they're fairly inexpensive to buy, and even if they stop working after a while, they're affordable enough to replace. But if you do have an old solar light that's not working anymore, don't toss it in the trash. Here's a clever little DIY from Robbie and Gary Gardening Easy that turns these often-discarded items into cute little succulent planters by painting the light's enclosure and filling it with succulents.

Whether you're a succulent collector or you're just starting to delve into growing them, many of them start out quite small, so you only need tiny planters to grow them in. While you can turn an old tuna can into the cutest planter, the glass or plastic enclosures that hold the lamps in a solar light are perfect for this, too. Another benefit of using these is that when you pour water into the receptacle, it will just flow out through the bottom where the stake is connected. This means that you don't even have to worry about making drainage holes, which is perfect for succulents that like the soil to be on the dry side. You can even use these minute planters when you want to propagate more of your favorite plants once you learn how to grow and care for succulent cuttings, because they're the perfect size.

This is such an easy little project that it might become an obsession, and you'll find yourself hunting for old solar lights everywhere. To get started, you first want to remove the top of the glass or plastic enclosure and remove the lamp. Grab your favorite paint in a bright color and paint the opaque sides and base. Once the paint is dry, fill the glass with succulent growing mix and pop in a little plant. Your planter already has its own stake, so you can just stick it into a garden bed or that gorgeous, large pot on your patio.

Of course, you don't have to stop there with the embellishments. You can pretty up your planter even more by grabbing some fake flowers that you can buy cheaply from Dollar Tree. Either tape them to the stake using green painters tape or use your trusty hot glue gun to attach them.

If you're using these little planters for propagating new succulents, you might even want to leave them unpainted. That way, you can easily see through the glass when the roots have grown. Or, you can just use the solar light as the holder and pop a small nursery pot inside to hold your succulent. As solar lights come in a range of different shapes and sizes, you can really elevate your outdoor decor by using them creatively long after they have outlived their original purpose. For even more inspiration, take a look at some other creative ways to repurpose solar lights into beautiful home and garden decor.

While there are plenty of small succulents that will do really well in these tiny planters you've created, there are a few varieties that will fare better than others. Some are just naturally small in stature, while others grow very slowly. This means they can stay in these tiny containers for a few years before you'll have to pot them up into larger ones.

The best varieties for small pots include species like Echeveria, Lithops, Sedum, Crassula, and Sempervivum. Basically, those varieties that grow into small rosettes or produce offsets should do well in these planters for quite some time. On the flip side, you want to avoid tall and large-growing types, like Agaves and Kalanchoe. If you're going to be using your planters for propagation, small offsets from other succulents that you already have growing will work perfectly. If you don't already have a selection of these plants at home, take a trip to your local garden center and look for those that are being sold in small nursery containers. These are likely to stay quite small or grow relatively slowly.

Once you've found the perfect plants, taking care of them is not that difficult. Most succulents prefer the soil to dry out before adding moisture, so you just want to water them sparingly. If you get this right, there's nothing else you need to do except pot them up when they eventually get too large for their current home.