Save Your Wine Bottles To Repurpose Them Into A Unique Self-Watering Planter

There is a certain symmetry to growing a plant in a wine bottle. After all, the wine came from grapes that were grown in a field. It's fitting to grow something in the bottle that housed the wine that came from those grapes. All it takes is an empty wine bottle that has been cut (about 1 or 2 inches below where the bottle curves), sandpaper to smooth the edges, something to serve as a rope (plus a method of preventing the soil from falling into the water), water, a little of the aforementioned soil, and a plant. For this DIY self-watering planter, you won't need a lot of dirt, but you will want it to stay in the top part of the bottle planter, so you need some sort of item to keep that good soil where it's supposed to be. In a bigger container, you could add these unexpected items to the bottom of your planters. A coffee filter, a scrap of pantyhose, or landscape fabric may work best for this hack.

The concept for self-watering is relatively simple. It relies on a scientific principle known as capillary action. Something absorbent (in this case a cotton rope) is placed in a water source. Capillary action causes an uptake of the liquid, which is how the water gets to the plant. Roots work in much the same way, but you'll be helping your plant's roots along by creating a system to consistently give them the water they need as they grow and establish their roots. This win-win gives you a thriving plant and the satisfaction of upcycling a bottle.

If you're a gardener who likes to feel like you're living in a greenhouse, making self-watering planters from empty bottles is just what you need! The first step is to prep the bottle. If you're going to upcycle your empty wine bottles to take care of the plants, you first need to clean and sterilize them. Once that's done, you'll be ready to cut the bottle. One way to do this is by wrapping a cotton string around the bottle a few times, soaking the string in rubbing alcohol, then setting it on fire over a tub of ice water. Allow it to burn for at least one minute before dunking it in the water. If you try it, wear eye goggles and safety gloves, like the Ergodyne ProFlex 7042 work gloves from Amazon, which are cut and heat resistant. A better option is to use a glass bottle cutter, like the Godora Glass Bottle Cutter, which comes with the cutter, two carbide heads, an oil dropper, gloves, tutorials, and more.

Cutting the bottle is the hardest part. After that, the rest is a cinch. Smooth the cut edges with the sandpaper then fill the bottom piece with a few inches of water that reaches just above the neck of the inverted top half of the bottle, which will nest into the bottom half and hold the soil and plant. Don't forget to add in the rope! You can use something like the PH Perkhomy Cotton Rope. Weave it through a coffee filter, pantyhose, or landscape fabric that you're using to keep in the soil, and knot it at the top. Add your soil and plant, and you're done!

If you don't have a wine bottle, never fear! There are plenty of ideas that follow the same principles of wicking and watering to help your plants grow. A glass bottle is going to be sturdier and won't necessitate research on whether or not it contains any chemicals you don't like, so you may want to stick with glass, but just about any bottle should work. Bottles aren't the only items that can be used, however. You can also make a self-watering planter out of plastic deli containers (via TikTok). If you need a quick temporary option (for example, if you have a plant but haven't finished the bottle of wine for the planter), you can turn a Ziploc bag into a simple self-watering planter. It works on a similar principle; be aware, though, that you may occasionally need to replace the string or wick if it's made of cotton, something that is true of any self-watering bottle you create. There is one self-watering method that uses a bottle but doesn't wick the way the others do. It slurps up water to become a drip irrigation system using a plastic bottle, sticks, duct tape, and a cotton swab (via Instagram).

In the end, no matter what bottle you use, remember that just because you're doing some sort of automatic self-watering system for your plant, it doesn't mean you're off the hook with its care. Be sure to know what it needs and give it the sunlight, nutrients, pruning, soil, and whatever else it requires to be a healthy addition to your indoor or outdoor landscape.