Using Ollas (Old-Fashioned Drip Irrigation)

Not all of us can/want to water our gardens every day or every other day. In an attempt to find a watering solution I explored a few alternatives.

I am not a big fan of drip irrigation and soaker hoses because they require hours of operation to thoroughly soak the soil (plus it is difficult to use my captured rain water). Hand watering either with a watering can or hose is OK but can waste water and contribute to disease in our humid climate. Then I decided to further investigate a technique that I had heard about a few years ago...ollas.

Ollas, pronounced O-yah, are direct and efficient watering devices for the garden. The original ollas, thought to be brought from Spain to South America were unglazed clay earthenware urns which are still used today in the Southwest.

They are basically unglazed terracotta jars that are buried in the ground and filled with water. The water slowly seeps through the jar and waters the plant it is placed next to. Ollas can be rather expensive ($10-50/ea) and hard to find, so I started looking for local alternatives. I found some unglazed terracotta pots at Hobby Lobby that look like wine chillers (representative pic below):

I bought the 8 pots that they had on the floor and 8 terracotta saucers to cover them. The pots were $2.50/ea and the saucers were $0.50/each. I have already installed them in my plot and am waiting to see how they work...and if I am going to need more. Picture at the top is of my garden plot at the Alpharetta Community Garden with the ollas installed.

You could also install the ollas and setup a gravity-fed hybrid olla/drip irrigation system using captured rain water (planning on doing this eventually):

Here is a little more info on making ollas: http://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/1434/