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(Image: BNPS)

He’s been bottling it up for ages, but here’s gardener David Latimer with the astonishing results of a plant experiment started nearly 53 years ago…

The 80-year-old buried four ­seedlings in a huge jar in 1960 and one is still flourishing – even though it hasn’t been watered in 40 years.

David wanted to test a theory that plants can survive in a self-contained environment.

Three of the four died after he sealed the container, but this beauty – called a ­spiderworts or tradescantia – just kept growing.

Retired electrical engineer David, of Cranleigh, Surrey, said: “I started it at Easter 1960 at a time when bottled gardens were a big craze.

“I had an idea to see if plants could survive in an isolated environment.

"It was an experiment to see how long it would last and it still is.

“The tradescantia just kept growing until it filled the bottle. I have watered it twice, in the early 1970s.

"Some people don’t see what the point is and the truth is that there is no point, it’s just to see how long it lasts.”

To survive, the plant absorbs solar energy from daylight, water from the moisture it creates and carbon dioxide and nutrients from rotting leaves it drops.

It also produces oxygen.

David took a picture of the plant to Radio 4 Gardener’s Question Time.

Host Chris Beardshaw said: “It is a great example of just how pioneering plants can be and how they persist.”