I have found this works really well for multiple reasons. You place the terra-cotta spike into the soil as you would a traditional olla, and the place a bottle filled with water upside down into the opening. Have you ever tried terra-cotta watering spikes? They are essentially an olla on a smaller scale. Last year I read this post and loved it! But I was trying to think of a way to be more efficient with space for the olla to plant ratio. Hello! I am in zone 7a and also a huge fan of ollas. Traditional ollas are still commonly used in India, Sri Lanka, Brazil, Iran, and Burkina Faso. ![]() Evidence shows that ollas have been used to water crops for over 4000 years, beginning in China and northern Africa and then spreading to the new world and other regions. Native Americans also used ollas and may have developed the practice on their own or through contact with settlers. ![]() In Spanish, olla simply means pot or cooking pot, but the use of the word goes back to its roots in Latin. Ollas used in agriculture are unglazed clay pots used strictly for underground irrigation. Ollas are not a new invention, nor only an irrigation method. During the growing season, the roots cling to the sides of the terracotta and can get water directly from it. Seeing that has made me realize that the plants’ roots get moisture from the soil around the pot and from the pot itself. You can see this happening too! When I dig up ollas from around my tomato plants in autumn, I always notice that the holes left are completely lined in roots. Ollas work because plants sense the moisture in the area around the clay pot and grow roots towards it. Traditional ollas have a small neck that pops up from the soil. That’s why it’s important for you to place ollas so that plants can grow roots up to them. Usually, the moisture doesn’t travel far from the pot and is concentrated in the few inches around the olla. When the soil does dry out, water is pulled through and into the soil around the pot. If it’s been raining, and the ground is wet, the water stays in ollas and isn’t drawn out. It does this through a process called soil moisture tension. Instead of moisture seeping through and evaporating into dry air, it seeps through when the soil around the pot is dry. Ollas, made from unglazed clay pots, use that same mechanism but under the ground. To this day, unglazed clay vessels are used in arid regions as air conditioners, and low-tech refrigerators called Zeer pots. As the water evaporates, it cools the air around it, and the pot itself, much like sweating helps to cool our bodies. When water sweats through unglazed clay pots, heat and hot air on the outside cause the moisture to evaporate. Since the invention of pottery, people have been using the porous nature of terracotta to their benefit. Water will seep from inside the olla to the soil surrounding it If plant roots are within reach, they’ll grow up to the pot and can tap into that moisture resource. The water inside the pot travels through the pot’s walls and moistens the soil around it. You then fill them with water and seal them with a lid to stop water from evaporating from the top. Sometimes the neck is flush with the top of the reservoir, and sometimes it’s long so that the olla is better at deep watering. Traditional ollas look like urns with a large reservoir for holding water and a smaller neck. Ollas are clay pots that you bury in the soil at the same level that a plant’s roots grow. Ollas help water your plants by slow-releasing moisture to the soil What are Ollas They can even latch on and drink directly from it. When plant roots are growing near an olla, they sense the moisture seeping through the terracotta pot and grow towards the walls of the olla. Unglazed terracotta is porous, meaning that both air and water can travel through the pot. ![]() Think of ollas as terracotta clay pots that you fill with water and bury in the soil. Pumpkins growing in the ground, tomatoes growing in the greenhouse, and even small ollas (or plant watering spikes) for houseplants. Ollas are a low-tech and zero-energy required watering system for plants of all kinds.
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