Olla Watering System: Everything You Need to Know to Get Started

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Did you know you can water your entire garden bed without lifting a finger and reduce your waste water by 70% for about $5 using just a clay pot? Today I’m going to show you how to make a self watering olla pot system for your own garden.

What is an olla watering system?

Olla (pronounced oya) means “pot” in Spanish, but the concept of using ollas as an irrigation system goes back thousands of years and has been used in countless cultures around the world. An olla watering system is basically any type of unglazed clay pot that is buried beneath the soil with only a small amount sticking up above the surface and filled with water. You can tell that a pot is unglazed because it will be that classic terracotta red color with no shiny finish, glaze or paint. The water then leeches out of tiny holes or “pores” in the unglazed clay and is pulled through the soil to the roots of your thirsty plants using a process called soil moisture tension. This functions much the same way as osmosis, in that the water is trying to equalize to a certain level of moisture within the soil. This means your soil will never become overwatered either - if the soil is moist, the water stays in the pot until it is needed.

Why should you use an olla watering pot?

Watering the garden is a task that isn’t easy for everyone. Personally, I struggle with bending down and kneeling in the garden to water and weed because of my arthritis. When I was planning my garden this past spring I was in the middle of a bad flare and I knew I needed to choose an irrigation system that would ease some of the physical demands of gardening and allow me to continue growing all the fruits and vegetables I could without hurting myself. There are so many different watering systems available today, from drip irrigation to sprinklers, but I wanted to find something that was budget-friendly and used common everyday items.

An olla pot is perfect for garden irrigation because all you need is a clay pot and some type of lid. You only need to fill them every 2-5 days depending on your climate (hotter, dryer climates will be on the lower end of that spectrum and wetter, cooler climates on the higher end) and it takes just one minute or so to fill the pot from your watering can versus standing there for ages with a hose.

As of August 30, 2022, 38.23% of the U.S. and 45.53% of the Lower 48 states were in drought. With climate change on the rise, this number is only expected to get worse. I know in our tiny town we are under a water restriction notice for most of the summer, and this is a common issue in many neighborhoods. I’ve even heard a few reports that said to expect summer 2022 to be the coolest for the rest of our lives - and it felt like the hottest one yet. Not only does a watering restriction in your town eliminate hose watering as an option, it means any watering system you do use should be as efficient and waste as little water as possible.

Olla pots reduce wasted water by about seventy percent, since most of the moisture is held underground and not lost to surface evaporation. This is a huge savings over traditional watering methods and means you can significantly reduce your water consumption in our drought-prone climate. This will lower your water bill as well as make your homestead more environmentally friendly!

Olla pots also help you to grow happier and healthier plants. The root systems in your plants will also be healthier, as they reach out towards the underground water the roots will become larger and sturdier, keeping your plants from falling over. Most importantly, plants that are watered at the soil level are less prone to infection with certain fungal diseases that thrive in damp environments, since the leaves of your plants will not get wet as often. Because of the soil moisture tension phenomenon, your plants will also never be overwatered.

What is the best olla pot you can buy?

This DIY olla may not be for you if you can’t find genuine terracotta pots affordably in your area, or don’t have the time to make one yourself. If you can’t make your own olla, or you want hook up your ollas to an automatic rainwater harvesting system that will continuously refill your ollas for you from free rainwater collected from your roof, check out this automated olla watering system.

I added this drip irrigation/olla hybrid setup to 3 of my raised beds, and it’s made an already pretty hands-off system completely self-sustaining; water is collected from my roof into a 50 gallon barrel, flows automatically into reservoirs and down the irrigation tube into individual terracotta cups. Setup is easy - in my opinion, this is the perfect garden watering solution.

What plants grow well with olla pots?

There is some debate about whether olla pots work for any type of plant. Of course, all plants have different water needs and root systems. In my experience and from comments in my community, there doesn’t seem to be any plant that can’t thrive with an olla pot - from trees to squash, corn and beans, all the way down to simple lettuce. Experiment in your own garden and find what works best for you!

How do you make an olla watering system?

Here’s the supplies you will need to make an olla watering pot system:

• 1 eight to ten inch unglazed terracotta pot per 4x4 foot area - click here for the ones I use

• Moldable glue if your pot has a hole in the bottom (I like sugru)

• Plant saucer to use as a lid - click here for the lids I use

• A rock or two to weight down your lid
  

1. You will want to start by calculating how many olla pots you will need. As a general rule of thumb, you should have one olla pot per four by four foot area in your garden. The olla pot can water up to two feet away from where it is buried, which means even if your garden is just two feet wide by eight feet long you’d want two olla pots - one every two feet.

2. If your olla pot has a hole in the bottom, you’ll need to cover this so the water you put in doesn’t just pour right out the bottom. You can cover the hole in the bottom of the olla pot with sugru moldable glue, caulking, clay, poster mounting putty, a cork or something similar.

3. Dig out a space to bury your olla pot in your garden bed. You can olla pots in raised beds or in-ground gardens, but you’ll need larger olla pots for in-ground beds, ten to twelve inches should be fine. The hole should be about as deep as your pot is tall - however, my raised beds are too shallow to fully bury the pot and they still work fine.

4. Place your olla pot into the hole and replace the soil around the edges of the olla.

Fill the olla with water and cover with your chosen lid. This helps to keep bugs out and prevents the water from just evaporating before it has a chance to seep into the soil. My lid is very lightweight, so I chose to weigh it down with a rock and then decided to add even more small pebbles and rocks to create a watering station for pollinators.

Depending on your climate you will need to refill the olla every 2-5 days. I recommend checking it the day after you install to make sure there’s no leaks in your olla - if all the water is gone and it wasn’t a heat wave that day I’d check your seal and try again. Then check every other day until you get a sense for how often you need to refill the pot.

wILL YOU TRY THIS EASY WAY TO WATER YOUR GARDEN? lET ME KNOW IN THE COMMENTS IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS!

No More Over or Under Watered Plants: A Comprehensive Guide to Watering Your Garden

The Cottage Peach is reader-supported. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission at no additional cost to you. All opinions are our own.

We’ve talked a lot about creating systems in your garden to grow more food even with chronic pain and fatigue, and you can find lots more of my tips on that by clicking here. But I wanted to dive deep into how to water plants with chronic illness today because - at least for me - watering plants has been a huge struggle. Unwieldy hoses and heavy watering cans plus the time required just standing there combined with the fact that skipping a day of watering in the hot and dry season because you aren’t feeling well isn’t really an option leads to this being a constant source of stress. The good news is that there are many different ways to water your plants no matter your budget or energy levels.

How to Water Plants

Knowing how and when to water your plants in your garden sounds scarier than it is, I promise! While some plants may have more specific watering requirements, as a general rule you want to keep the soil consistently damp throughout the germination process, and then once your plants are established you’ll wait for the soil to begin to dry out during the growing season.

• Utilize mulching to prevent water loss due to surface evaporation

• Concentrate your watering at the base of the plant

• Confirm the soil isn’t already damp first

• Water in the morning, so excess moisture can evaporate in the sun

When to water plants

Water infrequently but deeply in the morning to encourage resilient plants - 1” of water once per week. A 10-foot soaker hose (the kind with a spray nozzle) will release 6 gallons of water per foot in an hour’s time. For 1” of water coverage, you’ll need to run the hose for about 45 minutes.

How to water in-ground gardens

The best hack for watering in-ground gardens is mulch. Mulch will hold that moisture in so it doesn’t evaporate from the soil in hot dry weather. Once your plants are established (usually a couple of weeks after transplanting or about a month after direct sowing) in ground gardens are pretty self-sustaining in terms of water. During heat waves I will water once a day, but other than that as long as we’re getting some rain once a week or so I won’t water established in ground gardens much at all. Of course your plants will tell you if they are thirsty too by drooping, and if you don’t mulch at all things will be very different - this is when you’ll need to watch out for hydrophobic soil (see more info on that below)

How to water raised bed gardens

Standard raised bed gardens that are in contact with the soil underneath will need slightly more attention in watering than an in-ground bed since the growing soil is elevated slightly. Drip irrigation or olla watering systems work really well in raised beds, or you can follow the tips listed above.  (click here to learn more about ollas)

How to water container gardens

Container gardens are notorious for drying out very quickly. You will need to water container gardens at least once per day - in a heat wave, sometimes twice per day. Raised beds that are elevated off of the ground like mine fall into the container garden category as well and benefit hugely from automatic watering systems like the irrigation trays included with my raised beds or the olla watering system shown here.

Is it true that you shouldn’t get leaves wet when watering your plants?

I’m sure you’re wondering how you’re supposed to completely avoid getting the leaves of your plants wet while watering. The fact is, some plants (especially squash) are more susceptible to diseases that thrive in damp environments like powdery mildew. This doesn’t stop the rain from falling on your plants however, so I wouldn’t worry too much about avoiding any water getting on the leaves unless you are having an especially damp season (in which case, don’t water anyway!)

What is hydrophobic soil?

Hydrophobic soil occurs when a waxy residue builds up on the soil particles resulting in it repelling water rather than absorbing it. This can happen if you do not water consistently, or you don’t use mulching to protect the surface layer of your soil from drying out. You can tell that soil has become hydrophobic because the water will bead up and not soak into the earth normally. You can also confirm your soil is hydrophobic by digging down an inch or two beneath the soil after watering. The surface may look damp, but underneath the soil will be completely dry.

How to fix hydrophobic soil

The easiest way to correct hydrophobic soil is to amend it with nutrient rich compost. However, you most likely won’t be fixing the soil that is hydrophobic - you’re really just slowly replacing the soil that has gone “bad” by mixing in fresh new soil that can encourage better absorption.

My favorite low energy watering techniques

Water your garden with Ollas

Olla (pronounced oya) means “pot” in Spanish, but the concept of using ollas as an irrigation system goes back thousands of years and has been used in countless cultures around the world. An olla self watering system for plants is basically any type of unglazed clay pot that is buried beneath the soil with only a small amount sticking up above the surface and filled with water. You can tell that a pot is unglazed because it will be that classic terracotta red color with no shiny finish, glaze or paint. The water then leeches out of tiny holes or “pores” in the unglazed clay and is pulled through the soil to the roots of your thirsty plants using a process called soil moisture tension. This functions much the same way as osmosis, in that the water is trying to equalize to a certain level of moisture within the soil. This means your soil will never become overwatered either - if the soil is moist, the water stays in the pot until it is needed. 

Olla pots reduce wasted water by about seventy percent, since most of the moisture is held underground and not lost to surface evaporation. This is a huge savings over traditional watering methods and means you can significantly reduce your water consumption in our drought-prone climate. This will lower your water bill as well as make your garden more environmentally friendly! They are also perfect for watering plants on vacation.

Olla pots also help you to grow happier and healthier plants. The root systems in your plants will also be healthier, as they reach out towards the underground water the roots will become larger and sturdier, keeping your plants from falling over. Most importantly, plants that are watered at the soil level are less prone to infection with certain fungal diseases that thrive in damp environments, since the leaves of your plants will not get wet as often. Because of the soil moisture tension phenomenon, your plants will also never be overwatered.

You can click here for my favorite ready-made ollas you can buy or click here for instructions on how to DIY your own.

Water your garden with drip irrigation

Drip irrigation combined with a timer will give you the most hands-off automatic watering for plants. You can truly just set it and forget it, leaving you free to focus your energy on garden tasks you enjoy. These systems run the gamut from complex DIY builds to custom built configurations, but for a ready made option I recommend this Garden Row Snip-n-Drip Soaker System. With this system you can easily create a customized watering system for rows of plants. The kit includes everything you need to water up to four 25' rows, and only takes about an hour to set it up at the beginning of the season. This way you can apply water just where you want it — and not where you don't. You can customize this convenient soaker hose system to suit your vegetable garden or any garden planted in rows. No special tools are required — just use scissors to cut the hoses to the sizes you need. Snap the fittings in place and you're ready to water. The weeping action of soaker hoses delivers water right to the roots, with minimal loss due to evaporation and runoff. Soaker hoses use up to 80% less water than sprinklers!

Water your garden with rainwater

Rainwater collection is an excellent option especially in drought prone areas. This is the rain barrel we use in our garden - the authentic oak barrel texture is molded into each plastic rain barrel and will not fade, rot or risk insect infestation. The unique flat back design allows the rain barrel to sit flush against any wall and is equipped with a durable brass spigot with hose hook-up as well as a screen to keep out debris and insects. Manufactured from rotomolded polyethylene, this rain barrel is impact resistant and UV stabilized to eliminate fading. Don’t forget a stand to elevate your rain barrel so you can have good water pressure to your hose and fill up your watering can easily.

Water your garden with sprinklers

Sprinklers are a great hands-off watering method. Try this Hi-Rise Lifetime Brass Sprinkler. In an age of plastic, one-season sprinklers, you'll appreciate these no-nonsense sprinklers built to last a lifetime, made of coated steel and solid brass. The jet nozzle creates a 360° spray of fine droplets without the need for failure-prone moving parts. Spiked base has a foot tread to make placement easy, and a second fitting so you can connect two sprinklers end-to-end with a feeder hose.

I hope these tips on how to water your garden were helpful. Gardening with chronic pain or fatigue doesn’t have to be harder with a little planning. How do you water your garden? Let me know in the comments!