DIY Plant Watering Bottles

Are you ever faced with going away for a few days only to return to dried out, thirsty plants?  Or maybe your house-sitter ‘forgot’ to water your container plants.

Well, I have the perfect solution for you using something many of you probably have lying around the house…

An empty bottle of wine makes the perfect ‘self-watering’ solution for your plants when you have to leave for a couple of days.

With holidays here, you will probably have the pleasure of enjoying a good bottle of wine, such as this one from a local winery.

To create your own plant watering bottle, the process is very easy.

First, drink and enjoy your wine.  Then wash it out and bring it out to your container filled with plant(s).

 Here is one of my containers that is filled with petunias, lettuce, parsley, nasturtiums and garlic.  Now, I certainly don’t want it to dry out when I leave for a couple of days.  But, my empty wine bottle should help me out.

I filled my wine bottle with water and then held my thumb over the top.

 I turned the wine bottle upside down and inserted the mouth of the wine bottle into the soil about 2 inches deep into damp soil.  (If the soil is too dry, the water will run out quickly.)

Water will slowly be released from the wine bottle, watering your plants.  This can take hours or even a day or two.  For a large container, such as this one, you may want to add another bottle so that all the plants receive water.

You aren’t limited to only using wine bottles – any glass bottle will do.  Glass soda bottles work well for small containers.

This works not only for outdoor container plants, but for houseplants, and perennials/shrubs out in the garden.  **Just make sure to bring the bottles when temperatures dip below freezing or they may burst as the water expands**.

You can also make the bottles more of a permanent fixture in your container garden.  They can be decorated with colored tiles or even painted so that they add an artistic flair to your garden.

So, if you receive a gift of wine this holiday season, after you have finished enjoying your wine – be sure to save the empty bottle for your plants.