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aka_strawberrygoat

who irrigates with ollas?

aka_strawberrygoat
13 years ago

I thought I was doing a reply here, but found out it was in california gardening...

so, now, in the correct thread, who has or knows about using ollas, for a form of drip irrigation?

I'd never heard of them, until recently.

been doing an extensive search through google and have decided it's a great way to water specific plants and seems easy and efficient to do it this way of burying the pots, to have a constant, slow source of water to plants that don't like overhead watering and need a steady way of irrigation.

google images helped..

I have a kiln and will get a 25 pound block of clay from a potter's store and hand build one myself...then fire it.

they aren't to be glazed, cuz it's necessary for the pourous pot to be able to have the water drip through the walls of the pottery.

ancient way of gardening, with efficiency..they sure did know what they were doing......

Becky in zone 8

{{gwi:326155}}

Comments (4)

  • lehua49
    13 years ago

    Hi Becky,

    Will the pots mouth be exposed to the air? Do you know the rate of water that moves through the walls into the soil? It would depend on the type of soil, I think. Could you try an experiment with a pot and measure the drop in water level over time. Also dig up the pot after that and see how far the water travel in the longest time period. This information would be useful in designing your pots into people's irrigation schemes. The pots could go in between many plants. The roots would grow toward the pots. Could this idea be incorporated into potted plants that are at the most risk of losing water so fast. This is the concept behind the Earthtainer concept in the tomatoe forum. Lovely pots. Aloha

  • aka_strawberrygoat
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    these were the best example of the ollas I could find.
    I liked the idea of taking two terra cotta pots and with a waterproof sealant, probably something that would be used in an aquarium, to attach the two pots together, around the rims of both.
    cover the hole in one of them, which would then become the bottom of the pot..
    leave the top one, which would in effect be the bottom of one of the pots and that's where water would be fed from a hose.
    a saucer would be used to cover that hole, so no bugs, mosquitoes or dirt would fall into the pot.

    I had given thought to measuring the water loss by putting in a stick, maybe wrapped with some color fabric, to show exactly how far the stick went, where the water stopped..

    I'm probably going to do the garden center one, instead of trying to make a bunch of them myself. I'm way too impatient to do one at a time, wait for it to dry, fire it and start on another one...
    that would take all summer to get the number I want and by then, I could have gone and bought a couple dozen and had some already put together and in the ground.

    I totally trust the aquarium sealant, or else the fish would die, wouldn't you think?

    yes, I think they would be fabulous for potted plants by making or getting smaller terra cotta pots and figuring out how to get the best fit.
    Now I need to go and check out the tomato forum and see what the earthtainers are all about.

  • lehua49
    13 years ago

    Becky,

    Have fun. sounds like a fun project to me.

    JMHO, Aloha

  • azirrigation_guy
    13 years ago

    I haven't heard someone mention Ollas for years. I purchased Ollas just as you have pictured from a group in New Mexico (they look just like your picture).

    What you say is correct, you don't want to seal the porous outside of the Olla.
    Also, you will want to keep your plants fairly close to the pot for the best results. Because of its size you can plant multiple plants around each Olla, size must be considered, a tall skinny squash shaped Ollas doesn't give you a lot of surface around the olla to plant. I prefer the ollas you have pictured.

    This is a good way to efficiently water you garden or plants, I haven't tried but apparently these are also really good for starting trees. I know the study has not been done, but Mesa Community College in AZ was going to compare Ollas to regular drip emitters.

    The truth to Ollas are that depending on your climate and environment, you may still be watering just as often as you would be with drip emitters.

    To position your Olla for watering its best to will expose the top portion of the olla having it about 1-2 inches above grade, this prevents dirt and debris from falling in. Truth is that some dirt is not a problem.

    Good luck!

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