Clay Pot Irrigation & Wetpots

This was a new idea for me

https://www.thissustainablehouse.com.au/ ... aypotirrig

Taking it one step further

https://www.thissustainablehouse.com.au/ ... aypotirrig

Have a look at the full article -fascinating.
Also

https://www.wetpots.com/index.html

 

Re: Clay Pot Irrigation & Wetpots

good systems michael,

the original idea like those big ern type pots is what the indian asian gardeners use, except they use pots with very narrow necks to keep evaporation to an absolute minimum an they also put a cover cover the openeng so rodents and frogs whatever don't end up in there drowned. then of course all they do is keep the pot topped up. no connecting hose to work around.

len

 

Re: Clay Pot Irrigation & Wetpots

Hi Michaelangelica
I have used a similar idea in herb spirals with a clay pipe in the centre that weeps slowly to water the mound.
regards

 

Re: Clay Pot Irrigation & Wetpots

I can't look at a terracotta pot the same way anymore.
My head is buzzing with this. IMHO it is the best thing i have discovered on the net this year.

An Australian scientist was recently awarded a prize for his unique research on global warming.
The one amazing fact I remember hearing is that London and Canberra get the same amount of rain.
The difference is, the amount of evaporation in Canberra ! This system could change all that, if widely used!

PP any pics?

 

Re: Clay Pot Irrigation & Wetpots

yep just the expense of setting it up michael,

the original way as i know it in india was to bury these fair sized urns in the garden with just the narrow neck showing then you plant the plants neares for those requiring the most water furtherest for those who take it drier, but no evaporation hey? with larger pots clogging of the pores will be greatly reduced, keep in mind as the water works through the clay pot it is being filtered in a way hey? i am not much on systems as such preffer to see watering as hands on for best management.

len

 

Re: Clay Pot Irrigation & Wetpots

Would you get a similar result using 20/25L plastic bottles attached to weeping hose buried under mulch or shallow trench in root zone. it would be a lot cheaper than terracotta, can get plenty plastic cant afford other?

 

Re: Clay Pot Irrigation & Wetpots

i think with the plastic bottle there is a special cap available but not necessary it works best one bottle per plant.

len

 

Re: Clay Pot Irrigation & Wetpots

Hi Len

Wouldnt the weping hose work over several plants in a staight line or circle of plans,weeping hose are meant to be water efficient, on a single plant i would use a dripper
Thanks
Bird

 

Re: Clay Pot Irrigation & Wetpots

bottles might empty pretty quickly, i would be thinking the earthenware urns are at least 10 litre capacity or even 20. and they deposit the moisture deeper below the surface. but all you can do is try it the proof may be in the pudding?

len

 

Re: Clay Pot Irrigation & Wetpots

Hi Len

wont be on my block for about a week but will experiment with varying lengths of weep hose conected to 25 litre bottles and time them, will let you results, time to empty, water spread ect. (have only heard good feedback on this type of hose, hope it dont let me down)

Bird

 

Re: Clay Pot Irrigation & Wetpots

is that what is called leaky hose? mostly can only block from the inside if water with flotsum is used.

yep let us know.

len

 

A report on Wetpots

I thought this was possibly a solution to a problem in may garden so I've bought some....

The problem is that I have a down hill slope with fruit trees planted on it - 15 trees in total. During the dry spring here I was having to run the sprinklers on them every second day for 30 mins to keep the healthy, and even with that some of them dropped a lot of leaves and looked pretty sad. I don't know how many litres of water that amounts to but I'm thinking A LOT. The other part of the problem is that I have discovered I don't have enough storage for rain water. The architect did try to tell me.... I have 5500 L, plus a tank for grey water of 2000L. So I drained the tank dry very quickly and it stayed empty until the Christmas rain arrived - and I feel guilty about using town supply on the trees.

So - I bought a 310L tank from the hardware store that sits at the top of the slope, and 40 wetpots, plus tubing and fittings. I installed them just after Christmas. Each tree got 3 pots, and I have some trees that are planted close to each other eg 2 figs to get cross pollination and they share 3 pots between them. I stuck a handful of compost under each pot as I installed them, and have topped up the compost around each tree. I have added organic liquid fertilizer to the tank as well. Apart from checking the tank and refilling it as needed it needs no further input.

It has taken a bit of fine tuning (mostly around how open to have the tap....) and I now have the tank lasting a week between top ups. That works out to about 1 litre of water per pot per day, or 3 litres per plant. With a bit more time as the roots surround the pots I'm expecting that to fall further.

The pots cost $8 each and I'm expecting them to last years and years. So I've reduced my water use, increased my storage capacity (albeit only a little) and I'm happy with it. I can see myself buying more wetpots and putting more tanks around the garden as funds allow.

 

so I'm guessing if you open up the tap further these pots will start leaking water at a higher rate?
which means I guess that you can't link the system up to bigger tanks, and that you have to have your feeder tank at a certain height, is that right eco?

do those pots have the T joint on top?

this does look interesting and at a price of $8 / pot (I suppose you can buy them seperately) very good value


I'm thinking linking them up to a 200 l old olive tank (ca. $40) if it all works this'll save me a lot of work watering the veggies!

 

I have a decent drop from the tank to the lowest tree that seems to force the water out of the pots faster when the tap is fully open - like in half a day... 1/4 on seems to be the sweet spot for my situation.

You can use a larger tank, but you'll just have to regulate the head of pressure somehow. You need some height to feed the system - ie the pots won't suck uphill, but so long as you have a tap you should be able to knock down the pressure with a larger height above the pots. Mark the sales person / ceramicist gave me an example of a place that was watering 50 fruit trees from a 3000 L tank which lasted ages.

Yes they come with a T joiner and use 4 mm riser tubing to connect together. I had plenty of tubing left over from previous attempts at watering systems, so I didn't buy any, but they do sell it with the pots if you need it, as well as a small (50 L I think?) tank for use with a small system. And yes you can either get them in a kit or just buy them individually in the numbers you need.

Being ceramic the only concern I'd have about using them in the vege garden is about how vigorous you might get with the fork when digging up the taters - you'd shatter the pots fairly easily if you forgot where they were.

 

g'day j_c,

the pots can only leak at a certain rate you can't make them put more water out than what the porous material will allow for, my impression is that you provide water feed enough to keep water in the pots at all times.

len

 

Nah, the pore will determine the type of molecule that it'll let through (evidently water), the pressure on the pot will determine the rate at which it is coming through

 

Progress report - the system has been working really well until the past 2 weeks. Then the tank stopped emptying... Some of the small dripper tubing had become blocked. Which is my fault as I had been tossing home made weed and sea weed teas straight in and hadn't been paying much attention to the few bits of stray weed and muck that got into the tank. I've fixed the blockages and flushed it through - and promise to filter everything through some shade cloth before I chuck it in the tank from now on!

 

https://www.statesman.com/life/gardening/bury-the-pot-and-water-the-plants-with-2464220.html

 

Wet Pots
I have been using them in my garden for about five years now. I first saw them on the ABC's Gardening Australia program, I bought a kit by mail order and set them up to water my collection of miniature fruit tress being grown in big planter boxes. They don't deliver a large amount of water just a small daily trickle which is enough to keep them going in between rainy days. They are a water efficient easy way to water your garden plants although thirsty plants such a big tomatoes may require additional watering. No system is perfect for all situations.

*disclaimer, I like the wetpots so much I now stock them in my garden shop. They work for me.

 

I am moving yet again.....3rd place since August last but still in Mt Isa This time I plan on 3-5 years fingers crossed, it is a 3 bedroom house so the dog can come back home....room for any Permie holidaying in the North. Hugh 1/4 acre flat yard no veggie garden but an area old grass has been dumped. I think the wetpots might be a go I'll come back and read up on the links etc