I make clay 'ollas' to bury in the garden for subsurface irrigation. I make these on the potter's wheel. I used to have a wordpress blog, something like runningwaterpottery where I would post on my garden activities. It's still around but I've not posted on it in a while. I installed two ollas in the garden a while ago. Tomorrow, I'll plant tomatoes right next to them.
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9 comments
Feel free to reply to any comment by clicking the "Reply" button.This is wonderful. I also do pottery and mostly handbuild or molds. My next step is to throw on a wheel. I'm limited at present because I'm renting. Ollas are a wonderful idea and I introduced this idea to my students and parents with burying 2-liter plastic bottles with holes in them. But plastic is something we want to use less of in our lives. I saw recently an idea of taking 2 terracotta pots and sealing off one drainage hole with a broken piece of pottery and then gluing together the two pots leaving the other open drainage hole at the top to use for filling of water. Use waterproof glue. Of course, your ollas are the real deal and beautiful to look at.
Coqui
Level 4
May 12, 2018
0
Absolutely lovely! Almost Roman in design. Well done.
GoldenDoll
Level 7
May 12, 2018
2
Thanks
Great gardening idea. I have done the 5 gal. bucket with holes near bottom and holes at ground level with 3 plants (tomato) around one. Fill the bucket to water. I guess it works. Better than pouring water on the ground and hoping it soaks in before it runs off into the parking lot next door.
That aside, I am seriously impressed that you can turn out these nicely shaped and very uniform pottery pieces. I did some pottery wheel work (kick type, didn't like electric) in college. Made a plate and bowl but probably couldn't have replicated either one. Do you do other pottery pieces for sale?
DotLewis
Level 7
May 11, 2018
3
I do sell on occasion. Too busy teaching to be regular with it.
That's a great idea. I haven't heard about these before.
AstralSmoke
Level 8
May 11, 2018
1
That’s pretty cool do you sell them
Donto101
Level 7
May 11, 2018
2
I do.
@farmboy2017 that’s cool how much? I may have to get some from you when I do Raised beds
Not being as professional as you , I saved empty gallon plastic jugs , poked tiny holes in the bottom , and planted them with the plants . when I water the plants , I fill the jugs , and the water slowly seeps out so the roots are being watered , instead of just the tops .
Cast1es
Level 9
May 11, 2018
5
How does this work? Are they vessels that you open and put water into, or are they solid and just retain moisture from rain and irrigation?
SurvivorSteph
Level 6
May 11, 2018
2
They're fired at a low temperature so they're porous and water seeps out very very slowly. They'll harvest water from the soil, too.
Yes, fill them with water. Then refill every few days. The plant roots wrap around the vessel and drink from it. My soil is very poor so I plant immediately next to it
How does that work?
FrayedBear
Level 9
May 11, 2018
1
The clay pot is unglazed and fired at a low temperature so it remains porous. The water moves through capillary action or The Osmotic Potential from areas of high pressure (wet) to areas of low pressure (dry). Water tends to move vertically through the soil profile so the olla only releases a tiny amount of water as the plant uses it. Plastic bottles 'dump' water and it deep percolates below the root zone. The plastic bottles just accelerate water loss by putting it a little deeper during the initial application. You have 'run-off when the application rate exceeds the percolation rate. Plastic bottles contribute to run-off. Ollas hold the water in place at the root zone.
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