How To Make a Cigar Box Planter: Step by Step Instructions

Do-Something-Everyday, May 25,  2016

This is the last of a series of posts called Succulent Love. These are posts showcasing my succulents collection  in interesting planters along with small paintings of succulents that I did. You can find previous posts here, here, and here. The one below is planted in a cigar box with a painting of the plant on the inside lid. 

Cigar boxes are one of my favorite planters for succulents. I use them in their natural state which gives a rustic look to the arrangement. Creating a planter out of a cigar box is not at all complicated. The materials needed are easily available and the time it takes to do is no more than 30 minutes. Here is how to do it:

A. What you need:

1. An empty cigar box ( you can buy one for five dollars or less from a cigar shop)

2. A fairly large size succulent (appropriate to the size of the box)

3. Small pebbles for layering

4. Potting soil

5. Plastic liner ( I used a grocery bag)

6. Moss (Spanish or sphagnum)

B. Instructions:

1. Line the box with a a small plastic grocery bag and add an inch of pebble rocks over the liner. The liner will protect the box from the moisture from the soil. The rocks provide drainage.

 2. Add a layer of potting soil and plant the succulent in the soil. Make sure there is enough soil to cover the roots around the plant and on top. 

 3. Trim the plastic liner around the edges and add a layer of moss on top ( I used Spanish).

4. This step is optional. I added feet to the box so that it will not sit flat on the ground. I used small wood round disks (available in the wood craft section of any craft store) and attached one to each bottom corner using wood glue. Because I can, I painted  a succulent on the inside lid.

Thanks for visiting.