12 Innovative Ways To Reuse Pool Noodles For Thriving Garden Plants

There's nothing better than finding a cheap hack to upgrade your garden. Pool noodles — those colorful foam tubes that kids love to play with in the pool — might be one of the most versatile and overlooked tools for your garden. You can use them for any number of useful tricks, including helping you grow seeds in a vertical garden or creating a soaker garden sprinkler for your yard.

Pool noodles are a thriving business, since about 8 million pool noodles are sold every year. They're made of colorful foam, typically polyethylene or EVA (ethylene vinyl acetate), which is not toxic as long as you don't burn it or let it degrade too much. A good rule of thumb is to discard any pool noodles when they get too worn down. They're lightweight, so they can be used to fill space inside large planters or they can be cut down to size and used to help grow sweet potatoes from potato sprouts. 

Pool noodles can be colorful and useful additions to your garden, helping both you and your plants thrive. Here are 11 genius ways to put pool noodles to work helping you grow plants and improve your garden. You've probably never even thought of some of these beneficial suggestions.

Want sweet potatoes? An easy hack is to take sprouts growing from a sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas). Then, slice a pool noodle into rings, an inch or so thin. Stick your sweet potato sprouts inside the pool noodle, cut end downward. Set them in a tray of water, beneath either growing lights or by a sunlit shelf or window. Watch as the leaves grow. In about a week the sprouts should have nice roots, one of the most important parts of a sweet potato plant, and they'll be ready to plant in soil.

Turn a pool noodle into a soaker sprinkler for grass and flowers by simply poking a few holes in the noodle with a skewer. The smaller the holes and the further apart, the higher the spray. Add a barrier to one end like tape, an empty bottle, or even cut-up chunks of pool noodle. Plug your garden hose into the other side, and you've got an instant sprinkler for your garden. Water of course is essential to plants. Most garden beds (and many lawns) need about an inch of water a week.

Soil in an oversized planter can be expensive and make it heavier. A good lightweight solution is to cut up pool noodles and put them in the bottom of the planter. If you set them holes up, then you'll have a nice channel for drainage, which plants will love. Of course, you may need more soil than pool noodles if you're planting a tree. One of the things to consider about tree planter sizes is that for every square foot of your tree's canopy, aim for 1 ½ to 2 cubic feet of soil.

You can make your own hydroponic vegetable garden using a plastic container, sprouts and slices of pool noodle cut in a C-like shape. Grow leafy plants in the Brassica family such as kale (Brassica oleracea) or bok choy (Brassica rapa Chinensis). Just drill holes in a plastic container. Fill the container with water and a hydroponic growing solution. Pluck the sprouts out of the dirt, rinse, and then wrap the base of the plant in the pool noodle. Stick them roots down into the water, and you've got your own hydroponic vegetable garden.

If you've got a small koi pond or water feature in your backyard, put those pool noodles to good use making hydroponic floating baskets. Grab a pool noodle, zip ties, and a plastic basket. Just cut the pool noodle to fit the edges of the basket and zip tie them. Then, add in your plants. If you're wondering which plants grow in ponds, there are many varieties, including water lettuce (Pistia stratiotes) and water hyacinth (Pontederia crassipes). Water lettuce can grow aggressively, so it's best kept in containers, like your new floating basket.

Need to jazz up your garden border on a budget? All you need is a few pool noodles and a wire hanger. Slice up the noodles to even sections, run a bit of wire through them, and leave enough at each end to anchor them in the ground. You can also anchor each one individually with a bit of wire through the center hole. Run them in a straight line or stagger them for a unique design. Pick a single color, or pattern of colors — say, those from your favorite sports team.

If the wooden edge of your raised vegetable garden is cutting into your plants, grab a pool noodle. Simply cut a piece to fit and slice it down the center so you can fit it over the wooden edge of your raised garden bed. This hack can also be used on a metal tomato or dragon fruit cage. Cushioned edges can be especially important for plants that might be too heavy to grow upward on their own. If they sprawl on the ground, their fruit could be food for slugs instead of you. 

Tame your unruly vining potted plant with a homemade coco coir plant trellis made from a pool noodle, a swatch of coconut coir, a garden or camping tent stake, and some zip ties. Coco coir is made from coconut husks, and it can be great in the garden. You can even use it in potting soil mixes. To make your own trellis, cover your noodle with a swatch of coco coir. Zip tie it. Then, add the stake to the bottom. Tuck it into the pot and you've got a trellis.

Grow your own bean sprouts with this nifty hack using a pool noodle and a wire tray. Just take a basket-weaved wire frame or tray, and slice pool noodles to fit on either end. Place the tray in a plastic bin, lay down a moist paper towel, and spread out your mung beans. Cover with another paper towel and spray that with water. Cover the beans with the plastic lid, and then check back in about a week. You also can try growing alfalfa sprouts, too. 

If you've got a droopy plant, try a pool noodle. Some plants might need extra help — especially before storms. Reinforcing plants before a big storm can help them weather higher winds and might prevent them from being uprooted. Delicate vining vegetables like peppers or tomatoes might need a little extra reinforcement. Try adding a pool noodle to their base to help them stand up to high winds. 

If you need to clone your tomato plants to grow new ones, try this easy pool noodle hack . Simply cut 6-inch segments from your pool noodle. Then, slice those in half, and poke a hole, or slice an opening in the middle. Cut a branch from your tomato plant — typically the morning is best for cutting — and remember to pick a healthy stem at least 6 inches long with two sets of leaves. Stick the branch cut side down into the tub of water. Then, watch the plants begin to sprout roots.

Need a cheap sprayer attachment for your hose, but don't want to buy one? Grab a pool noodle, some zip ties, and a spoon. Cut a small piece of pool noodle. Attach a spoon, handle down, into one end. Zip tie it in place. Then, insert the hose into the other end. Now, you've got a gentle spray nozzle for your potted plants. Remember, potted plants should be watered more than plants in garden beds. Rain doesn't always penetrate to the bottom of the container where their roots are.