Have you ever come home from a lovely beach vacation, all tanned and relaxed, only to find your plants looking like they had a very rough time while you were away? Or, maybe you’re just tired of the constant watering routine, day in and day out.

A TikTok creator by the name of @growingrow shared her simple solution that costs almost nothing and gets rid of those pesky wine bottles that you never take to the recycling bin. Her trick? Wine bottle spikes. Specifically, the kind you can screw onto the neck of an empty wine bottle, push into the soil, and leave to slowly drip-feed your plants while you do other important life things (like vacations!)

How It Actually Works

In several ASMR-style videos, the TikTok creator can be seen pushing a terracotta spike into the soil next to a plant, filling wine bottles with water, and flipping them upside down to put into the ground. The bottle empties slowly over a day or two, keeping the soil consistently moist. It’s the kind of idea that made me wonder how and why I didn’t think of it first.

Article continues below

The most popular terracotta spikes on Amazon are from Vensovo (which the TikTok creator also used), and they come in a pack of 10. A 1-liter bottle of water lasts 7-10 days with these, which is crazy, and you can even get them in pretty colors.

This slow, consistent delivery is actually better for most plants than a heavy watering all at once; it keeps their moisture level stable rather than constantly switching between too wet and bone dry. A pro to this is that it also encourages roots to grow deeper since these follow moisture down into the soil. One bottle should be enough for a medium-sized pot or border plant.

If you don’t often drink wine or just really like the blue color, Amazon sells this pack of 6 cobalt blue wine bottles for a great price.

If you prefer to get everything at once, Amazon sells this set of 8 blue bottles along with spikes and a device that allows you to change the drip setting to higher or lower.

A Note on Clear Bottles

When the original video began circulating around TikTok, a few sharp-eyed users warned the video creator that clear glass bottles and direct sunlight aren’t exactly safe. They can act like a lens, concentrating the sun’s heat in a way that creates a fire risk.

It’s worth taking seriously, and @growingrow addressed this directly in another video. She told viewers she was switching out her clear bottles for blue (but dark green can also be nice), which most of us have in abundance. Also, placing the bottles in places where they won’t be exposed to unbroken, direct sunlight for hours at a time is a safer choice.

Which Plants Benefit Most

As with all plants, this type of slow watering benefits some more than others, and knowing which ones is always worth considering before you start pushing wine bottles in the ground.

Tomatoes and other fruiting vegetables benefit most; inconsistent watering is one of the main culprits of blossom end rot and fruit splitting in tomatoes, so a steady drip can be absolutely transformative for them. Other veggies that benefit include peppers, eggplants, and zucchini. For flowers, roses, dahlias, and sweet peas love consistent watering.

On the opposite end, if you have lavender, Mediterranean herbs like rosemary or thyme, and succulents, you probably shouldn’t bother. These prefer to actively dry out between waterings, so it's better to save your spikes for plants that actually appreciate the attention.

The Bottle Line (Pun Intended)

This type of garden hack sounds almost too simple to be true, but it absolutely works. A wine bottle costs a few bucks (plus, you get the benefit of enjoying the wine first), uses something you would have recycled anyway, and solves a problem. I call that a win-win-win situation!