Some of you long-time blog readers might remember . . . that some years ago, I tried a little garden equipment experiment to help me keep my container plants well-watered even when I wasn’t home. Yeah. The great “plant dildo” escapade of 2021. (You can find my original blog post here . . . on what’s left of my old Stepping Away From the Edge blog after Typepad shut it down earlier this year.) (And many thanks to my son-in-law, Keith, who managed that whole preservation-transfer-debacle for me!)
Anyway, five years later . . . those original terra cotta “plant dildos” (not their actual brand name, of course, but wouldn’t it be perfect?) are a highly effective part of my container gardening strategy. Yes. These particular pieces of garden equipment are still working, still recommended, and still good for a giggle.
I thought I’d commemorate their fifth anniversary in my garden . . . with a bit of a shout out. If you have container planters – and you can’t be there to water every single day – you may want to buy a set of your own! (You can find the terra cotta cones here, and the plastic wine bottles here.) I am still using the original cones and bottles, so my initial investment has really paid off.
Two other things to keep in mind, should you decide to buy a set of your own . . .
- It’s easiest to “insert” them (ahem) into the containers soon after you plant. If you wait too long, the roots grow together in the container and make things trickier – although not impossible. (You likely still have time to get this going in your pots. It’s still early days for most containers.)
- Early in the season, the bottles are quite visible in the container. Fear not! As the season unfolds and the plants fill out, the bottles will hardly be noticeable. (Besides, the wine bottles make for some interesting garden conversations if people are curious enough to notice/ask about them.)
And there you have it! An effective garden tip for your containers . . . that may also make you giggle!
Have a great weekend!
I’ll be back in the Read With Us LOUNGE on Monday. Hope you’ll “be there,” too.
(And don’t forget to RSVP for the Read With Us Zoom discussion on Tuesday night!)
Your containers are lovely and well-watered! I was thinking about getting something like the terra cotta tools, but the deer have eaten my container plants down to nubbins. We have a mother doe and three fawns this year and they are hungry!
How many days can you go before needing to refill the wine bottle? Will this system last for a week?
I’m copying my answer to Shirley here . . . in case anyone else has this question!
My not-very-helpful answer here is . . . it depends on the weather and the size of the container. 😉 Here’s an example — I just returned from 6 days away. Before I left, I watered my containers REALLY well and filled up all the wine bottles. When I returned, all but one of my wine bottles still had some water in them. (The one was nearly dry.) The weather was hot (but not humid) with not one drop of rain while I was gone. (None of my containers with wine bottles are in the path of my underground sprinklers, so the only water they got during that time period was from the wine bottles.) I do put two bottles in each of my larger containers. Later in the summer – when it’s even hotter – I try not to be away (or have alternate watering plans) for more than 4 days. If the container gets really dry, the water from the bottles (if there is any) won’t drip out very well. The terra cotta cone needs to be wet in order for it to really work. I also find that the bigger/deeper the container, the better this works. I’ve tried it in smaller, bowl-type containers, and it is not as effective.
I’ve had friends try the plastic cones (instead of the terra cotta), and they don’t really work at all. I think the porous-ness of the terra cotta is what makes the difference.
Good luck! Let me know if you give this a try – and how it works for you.
I saw someone (I think on FB) using soda bottles for this exact thing as well. But I think the wine bottles are really such beautiful additions to a container garden!
Too cool!! I did not know about these, and although I am home most of the time, my Hakerui would have benefitted from these a couple of times this year when I forgot to water them. Thanks for the tip, Kym. Your containers are beautiful, BTW.
Your pots are so colorful and beautiful this year. I love the bright pink and will love seeing them when they’re a bit more grown (please). 🙂
One of the tomato gardeners we know uses wine bottles throughout the summer to water her plants. I haven’t looked closely enough to see if she’s using any sort of conduit other than the bottle neck. Hmmm, now I have to look more closely at her garden, but I will say, she has the BEST tomatoes of all of us!
Do you think the terra cotta ones would work in hanging baskets? Or are they too big?