Water Your Plants with a Wine Bottle

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Summer has hit us full force here in North Carolina. It’s only 85 and I am sweltering. I’m not looking forward to the 100 degree days.

One of my favorite things about summer is the fresh fruits and veggies. We grow our own tomatoes and this year I am determined to keep them well watered. I always have great visions of an endless supply of tomatoes at my fingertips all summer long. Then comes that streak of scorching days where I do not want to step foot outside much less tend to the garden. That’s where this little gem comes into play. Get out that wine bottle (or two) that you just drank. Use them to water your plants!

Here Comes the Sun: Water Plants with a Wine Bottle

It’s just like those small water globes that you use for house plants when you go on vacation but this one is for my tomatoes! Bring it on, summer! Your scorching temps are NOT going to ruin my garden this year.

You need an empty bottle with a cork, some etching cream, vinyl and a cutting machine (optional but not necessary).

I used the same general etching technique that I used with my glass pitcher but with one twist. I did a reverse etching so the entire glass bottle is etched except for the design.

Here Comes the Sun: Water Plants with a Wine Bottle


1. First, I used my Silhouette machine to cut out the word Tomatoes. The font that I used is Hobo. I also used some chevrons to coordinate with my herb potsI placed the design on the bottle and used a piece of foam to stand it up.

Here Comes the Sun: Water your Plants with a Wine Bottle




2. Cover the entire bottle with an even layer of etching cream. Make sure to put it on pretty thick. I’ll be honest, it’s hard to get an even layer when you are etching the entire bottle. Just do the best you can. Leave the cream on for 15 minutes and then rinse off. Make sure to leave the cream on for a full 15 minutes. Trust me on this one. I got a bit too eager and ended up rinsing it off too soon so I had to do another coat to get it to look even.

3. Fill your bottle with water. Using a corkscrew, drill a small hole in the cork.  Put the cork back into the bottle. This will ensure that the water flows out at a slow rate. 

4.Tip the bottle upside down and place in your pot. Check on the bottle every so often and refill when necessary. 

So here’s to a great season of fresh and adequately watered veggies. Now if I could just figure out a way to keep those huge green caterpillars off my tomatoes, it’d be all good.

Here Comes the Sun: Water Plants with a Wine Bottle


What’s your favorite summer veggie?

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14 Comments

  1. Great idea. I need to do this for my flowers, too. I may have to just do the bottle idea with no decoration.

  2. Great idea. Definitely going to try this (lots of wine bottles on hand, lol). I use scissors and hand snip those pesky tomato worms.

  3. Love this cute little tutorial! I always have tons of wine bottles around!!! Must try this soon!

  4. So smart! I always wanted to get one of those globes, but never could bring myself to buy one. If I knew I could MAKE one, I would have done it myself a long time ago. Thanks for sharing!

  5. This is amazing! I always kill my plants. I actually have two empty wine bottles sitting on the counter (don’t judge). Now I’ll have to buy some plants and I should be able to keep them alive! I’d love for you to come share this at our Pinteresting Party!

  6. How smart is that! I just threw out a bottle…but I’m on my way to save it. Thanks for the great idea!

  7. I’ve read that you can plant Datura plants nearby and the tomato horn worms actually prefer them to the tomato plants.

  8. Will have to try this.

    PS to keep bugs off of tomato plants, just plant marigolds around them…. I have never had the green caterpillars on my tomato plants except the one year my husband refused to put them in the garden….. He has never doubted me about that trick sine then!!!!

    1. Thanks for the tip, Tammy! I will have to try that. I love marigolds and am always looking for new flowers to add to my garden!

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