Garden Olla Test Run

By -
In exploring irrigation options I came across the olla. An olla is a non-glazed clay pot. Traditional ollas have a wide base and a narrow neck. The olla is buried with just the top of neck left above ground. It is then filled with water and the opening covered with a rock or a lid. The water will then slowly wick out into the surrounding soil through capillary action. The dry soil draws out moisture from the olla wall until the soil is evenly saturated.

Ollas have several positive points:

  1. They minimize water lost to evaporation.
  2. They make it impossible to over water a plant because water is only released as the plant uses it.
  3. A reasonably sized olla should only have to be refilled every few days.
Negative points include:

  1. Water spread diameter is not very large. A 6" diameter olla has about a 10" diameter water spread according to this article. You can go with bigger ollas but with the downside of eating up more garden real estate.
  2. I can see plants with aggressive root systems enveloping an olla, clogging up the pores and potentially destroying it.
  3. Ollas are expensive. Home Depot is advertising a 10" olla for $35

Over the past couple weeks I've been making ollas by gluing together a clay pot and the saucer and sealing them with silicon caulk. In the garden I want to tie them together with irrigation tubing so I only have to fill up a central reservoir and water will be distributed to all the ollas.
The olla workshop. I'm using gorilla glue to secure the saucer to the pots. After the glue is dry, I'll caulk the seam. The pots on the left are 6" in diameter. The ones on the right are 4". I'll use the 4" ollas on a project I'm working on for our balcony.

Initial olla layout. They're spaced 20-24" apart.

I've buried the first set of ollas, inserted 'T' junction connectors into there necks and connected the irrigation tubing. I tried 1/4" tubing at first but it took a long time to fill the ollas so I swithed to 1/2". 

Experimenting with gravity feed water delivery. I connected the irrigation tubing to the bucket, filled the bucket up with water and it successfully filled the ollas. I'm toying with connecting the irrigation system with our rain water collection barrels. 

Comments

MW said…
This is so different to my vegetable plot. at the moment there are puddles on the clay. Too wet to dig.
28 February 2017 at 10:55
Kimi Ishikawa said…
Hi Aaron,

How did your ollas turn out? Are you still using them? We have put ollas in our garden beds and are hoping to hook them up to a gravity feed irrigation system like you describe here. Has that worked for you? We are on an off-grid farmstead in northern New Mexico with a greenhouse. We haul all of our water, so having a low-maintenance gravity-feed irrigation system would be a huge help!

Thanks for your post!

15 May 2020 at 10:45
Danielangelena said…
In this way, you'll be sure to get the best prices. For instance, forsythia blossoms in late winter and early spring. It is a symbol of hope and prosperity. Get more interesting details about garden center guide check out this site.
4 April 2022 at 02:22
liamloyarsmith said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
13 July 2022 at 02:21
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Black Soldier Fly Larva Harvester

By -
Image
Black soldier fly larva are voracious decomposers. Here's a video  of a some larva completely devouring a hamburger over the course of five hours. And here's a video of some chickens completely devouring some black soldier fly larva. Black soldier flies have some curious qualities that make them particularly well suiting for cultivating their larva as fodder for your feathered friends: As stated before black soldier fly larva are voracious. They will eat fish and meat scraps that you would not typically put in your compost pile for fear of attracting larger vermin. They break down organic material into usable compost extremely rapidly. As an added bonus black soldier fly larva eat the eggs of other fly species who foolishly lay their eggs in rotting organic material. This severely diminishes your population of house flies and fruit flies. I had a compost pile that was beset with fruit flies until the black soldier fly larva moved in. When a black soldier fly larva is re...
Read more

Roundwood Building Workshop

By -
Image
I went to a Roundwood Building Workshop this weekend. Roundwood is timber that is left as logs rather than being cut into planks. We constructed a shelter for a cob pizza oven (yet to be constructed). The timer is a mix of red cedar and ash juniper. Before doing anything with it we had to take the bark off it to prevent insect infestation down the road. The night before the project leaders charred the end of the posts that would be put in the ground. The charring is another insect infestation prevention measure. Getting the cut ends charred is of particular importance. The post holes were dug to a depth of 2-3'. We also half buried a couple of dozen roofing nails in the charred end of each post for additional stabilization. The cool thing about roundwood is that you can use features of the tree(like this limb) to add beauty and support. This limb will provide support for a girder. After we got the posts in position we back-filled the holes with decomposed g...
Read more

T-Brick Shed: Rubble Trench French Drain Installation

By -
Image
The last thing Jean told me before she left for the UK was that I had better finish the shed project before she gets back or else. The trench was a little soggy still but I decided to press on with the french drain installation for fear what that else may be (Although, I'm hoping the "else" will be make me a delicious sandwich). I dug out the high section blocking  the drain outlet and and cleaned up a some edges before putting down landscape fabric and a layer of gravel. Putting down the landscape fabric in the trench. Landscape fabric is water permeable but significantly less sediment permeable. This will help prevent the gravel and french drain from becoming blocked up with silt. Here's my work crew. The tamp/rake tango Release the hose! Uncoiling the perforated tubing. First objective was to fill in the tripping hazard that is the drain outlet. Note how we form a sort of gravel/perforated hose burrito with the landscape fabric. We...
Read more