Make an Olla (pronounced oi-ya)
Ollas have been used for thousands of years in agriculture and gardening practices and are traditionally unglazed terracotta “jugs” filled with water and buried into the soil, with their necks protruding slightly. Once the porous terracotta olla is in contact with the soil, water begins to seep into the surrounding soil, directly to the rootzone of surrounding plants. The amount of water drawn from the olla varies depending on the soil moisture – dry soil will draw water faster; wet soil slows it down.
This is great in our dry, hot climate – there’s no water wastage through run-off and evaporation, the water goes exactly where it’s needed, and the risk of fungal issues on foliage is significantly reduced due to the foliage not being wet during a watering. The burying of the olla in the soil also promotes deeper roots systems that are better able to manage fluctuations in heat. Perfect! Ollas are brilliant in pots, garden beds and even adjacent to plantings of young trees, but they do have their downsides – traditional olla’s are hard to come by, don’t last forever and are prohibitively expensive. Luckily, there’s an easy way to make them yourself for next to nothing.
What you Need
Two equal sized unglazed terracotta pots. (Tino used 13cm which holds about 3lt of water when full
One tube of weatherproof silicone sealer. (Use a food-safe grade silicone for water tanks and indoor plumbing.)
Plastic milk bottle (or similar), cut to a disc to fit over bottom pot drainage hole. (This doesn’t need to be plastic, but needs to adhere and form a perfect seal with the silicone.)
What to Do
Using a plastic disc, seal the drainage hole on the bottom of ONE of the pots, inside and out to prevent leaks
Pipe some silicone around the rim of this pot, and then place pots on top of each other, making sure the rims meet and line up. Gently pipe silicone around the join and smooth around the seam
Allow around 24 hours for the silicone to cure and dry, and then test your olla for leaks by filling it with water…..
How to Install
Bury the olla in the pot or garden bed, leaving just a couple of centimetres and the open hole exposed. Its important to pack gently pack soil around the olla. Water will not disperse in air pockets and roots will not grow in air pockets.
Fill with water (use shower warm up water, rainwater, potable water) and cover the small opening with a saucer, stone or similar – this will stop the olla getting rubbish, mulch and mosquitoes inside.
The size of your cheap and cheerful olla will determine how far the olla will water – the smaller the olla, the less distance the water will spread. In good soils, expect the water to spread at least the width of the olla in all directions.
Keep an eye on the water level inside the olla, and depending on the weather, the soil and the size of your olla, expect to refill it every few days to a week.
Olla irrigation is brilliant in pots, so consider bunging it into the middle of your planter next time you replace your crops, and drop your seedlings in around them. Olla irrigation is most efficient for crops with fibrous root systems like squash, melons, watermelons, tomatoes, and chilies, but it can work well for establishing young trees. Bear in mind that tree roots can, over time, damage and even crack an olla, so keep an eye on them if they are emptying too quickly.
Speaking of emptying, is there an easy way to tell if your olla is empty? Well, yes and no – some canny crafty folks may use a float installed inside the olla with a flag out the top so they can tell easily (and from a distance) when their ollas need a refill. The less crafty amongst us can use an old wooden chopstick or skinny bamboo stake to see exactly where the water level is up to – or just have a good old look!
Ollas can be made in just about any size imaginable – from small to quite substantial. While there is some growing space taken up in pots and beds by the olla, the long-term benefits to plant and soil health through consistent watering is worth the sacrifice. A tip – make sure that the pots you buy to make your olla aren’t sealed…..the water needs to be able to leach out.
Take Home
Ollas are adaptable, portable and sustainable, and are a pretty good way to keep you soil healthy and your plants happy, especially your precious potted pretties or incredible edibles. And, as they say, everything old is new again – give this ancient irrigation technique a run at your place.
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41 Comments
great info
every Australian TV show ever: HERE'S ONE I PREPARED EARLIER
Or you could mulch the garden beds deeply
an excellent alternative to the hassle of diy-ing, is to buy un-glazed terracotta wine coolers. 9 time out of ten a second hand shop will have one.
I making these this year 🙂
My parents always used to put an unglazed terracotta drainage pipe (open both ends) next to each tree they planted. This was filled up to water the tree and “get the water down to the roots”.
Thanks for sharing great wisdom! Plan to try this out this season!
Love this, my fist task for today to keep my frog habitat damp 🥰🐸
I've tried this with cheap unglazed clay/terracotta pots from Bunnings. BUT when testing by filling with water and leaving standing on the ground the water level remained unchanged even after a couple of week. In contrast a commercial Olla would drain in 24 hours.
Lovely garden.
I made some terracotta pot olla's and they work great
Centimetres? Litres? What sorcery psycho babble is this?
Excellent
My momma always told me no to stick my finger in bung holes
Thank you very much.
hola, interesante experimento lo pondré en practica en mis cultivos de tomate, un saludo desde Venezuela
Imagine sealing two pots with silicone in 2000 BC 😂
This hot Texan really appreciates this idea. My plants cook in the summer. Even heat tolerant plants wilt in August.
Great video! Thank you!
I’m trying these with my tomatoes and herbs this year. Silicone didn’t work for me, the porosity of the terra-cotta made it fall off. Gorilla glue worked like a champ.
Maybe I used the wrong silicone.
I made one similar to yours except I added a fill tube and a float (float made out of old pill bottles) and a stiff metal rod.
I attached a plastic butterfly to the top of the rod.
Rod runs through a pvc cap that is easily removable.
When the butterfly is high (flying) there is plenty of water.
When the butterfly drops to the cap, it is 'resting' and needs more water.
A cute setup – women like that stuff.
One could use a flag but not as visually enjoyable.
Also, some people use mortar mix in the bottom.
Keeps the water from weeping out too quickly from the bottom.
Reason for the PVC tube (it is actually PVC water pipe) is so I don't have to bend over to fill them.
Rule of thumb: bending over is bad, standing is good.
The music is distracting.
so you gottta have a really long finger to tell when it's almost empty. lol
Love that little joke you threw in there – even paused after. "Olla" have to do… lol
Hi My friend.. I had the same idea… I am from spain… the same size of pots… double volume… than traditional idea.
Incredible… amazing… What a surprise so long… but so close.
3:07 forget science
this old fashioned method of checking the juices levels also dates 2000BC
Cork stopper?to block holes?can try it out inndesert tree use big jars in trees olive groves dont need that much water any way.
Finger in… "Wet." 😂😂😂😂😂
Is it from 1BC or 2000BC? Title says one, video the other. It can't be both, they're 2 millennia apart
Pretty certain I know the answer but asking to confirm – I live where the ground freezes with some winters having feet of snow. Doesn't terra cotta crack in those conditions?
Is this what the nabetans and summerains did?
What about using pool noodles?
Great idea. Thank you for this video.❤️
Hi. I love your video and inspiring demonstration!
I was wondering on your 'how to make DIY terracotta olla' what is the exact silicone sealer you used? I live in Italy- so we may have different brands and types of silicone sealers; I am told that they are all waterproof, but are split up depending on what material you are using the silicone for. As far as nontoxic; the only ones seem to be used for aquatic life- making aquariums, but are NOT used for porous materials such as terracotta. Also, silicone used for interior water plumbing don't seem to be nontoxic and again are not to be used for porous materials.
The only silicone advised for terracotta are ones that are used for constructing porous building materials (listing terracotta), but are NOT listed as nontoxic. The clerk told me that it shouldn't matter anyways (even if there's a chemical) since it is just to seal the two pots together….?
I tried to use the nontoxic aquatic silicone sealer for attaching the two terracotta pots together, which is supposed to dry in 24 hours, but it is very sticky and seems to wipe off a bit even if the two pots are staying attached together. Not sure if it just takes longer to cure or this is how it will remain- if at all.
Could you please show me exactly what one you used? I would appreciate any information or advice you could give me on how to proceed; do I need to wipe it off and start over with the Universal builders silicone for porous materials?
Thank you for any help you can offer me!
Paj Tognetti
Thank you!
To test the water level why not use a pre measured dowel stick and check like checking oil on a car like a dip stick?
Australian tomaatooos
What about duct tape it should last about one season
My aunt uses a thin plastic orange tube on a fishing float. If the sticks are low, add water.
I just use wine bottles, not too hard
We're trying this with our lemon tree. 🍋 💕✨️🌈🙏 Thank you