Updating an upsidedown planter and had some ideas, the only problem is that I know nothing about gardening. please help.

K, so I've been trying to make an instructable for about a year now, but I always pick projects that are apparently too ambitious for me as I never finish them... But I just had an idea as I will not be home this sumer so I won't have the joy of attempting to grow peppers this year... which means I'll have to try over the winter months. So I saw this instructable and thought it seemed like a perfect idea http://www.instructables.com/id/Matts-Original-Inverted-Planter-aka-IPlanter/ And then I started getting ideas of how to update it and make it better... however, I know a sum total of about nothing when it comes to plants... Last year i just bought a pepper plant from the local greenhouse, fed it fertilizer sticks once every other week, shoved it on my shed roof and hoped for the best... It succeeded, but I'm not yet willing to say it was skill on my part.

So My first plot for an update came from this instructable http://www.instructables.com/id/Upside-Down-Hanging-Self-Watering-Earth-Filled-Box/ Since the pot will be hanging upside down and all that, checking the soil will be hasslesome, so a self watering system seems like a good idea, but this just seems complicated to me... So I've seen these things (http://www.amazon.com/Aqua-Globes-AG011706-Watering-2-Pack/dp/B000FHAJ90) on tv from time to time and was wondering how they work? Like could I just cut off the base of a wine bottle and shove the neck into the soil and then just fill the wine bottle as needed (or some other kind of glass bottle... i can cut glass easy enough)?

My next though was when the instructable told me to cover the hole with plastic wrap so nothing leaks out onto the floor... But then I was thinking if a cork could also do the same task... I was thinking of drilling a hole through it and then cutting it into 4 pieces and re-assembling it around the stem and corking the bottle from the inside... Since I made the cuts I figure the plant would just move the cork out of the way as it grew and would eventually be big enough to just take the place of the cork... but again i don't know enough about plants to know if this would actually work.

My last question is more of a what type of plant should i put in my bottle... I personally like peppers but the last time i grew them was on the roof of my shed and I'm wondering if they need more sun then they would getting sitting inside and upside down through the winter... and if not, what kind of plat could I plant in an upside down planter designed for indoor winter use?

Also, is it true that used coffee grounds make for good fertilizer?