Olla

Where we live is is HOT and DRY it only rains a few times a year and water can be hard to come by. So keeping our soil "evenly moist" as is required by SO many plants required me to think outside the box a bit so naturally I turned to the internet. I found Ollas: Unglazed Clay pots for garden irrigation. After that I set out to buy me some Olla's and was astonished at the price!$100 for something I bury in the dirt to hold water? No thanks! So then I was looking at ways to do it myself. And there were several other people who had already come up with the solution! terracotta pots blued together or to their bases. I use the glue them to their bases method Since I don't want to have to dig down so far as to accommodate the others. So far I have had great luck with my Ollas they have kept my tomatoes going strong for several months. I water usually once a week my filling my olla and thats all it takes to water my 4 plants.

The method is simple enough bury the olla with the "base" side down so the hole is at the soil level or just above it. This hole is where you will be adding your water!

You can see one of my buried ollas here with my watermelon. I place rocks on top of the holes to help keep critters and dust out.

I have heard that you can add soluble fertilizer straight to the olla but have not tried this for myself.