Clay Pot Irrigation & Wetpots

Clay pot irrigation isn’t a new concept; in fact it has been described in a number of ancient Chinese writings going back over 2000 years. It is however a terrific ‘nana-technology’ that can be used to great effect in a sustainable garden.

The basic principle of clay pot irrigation is that an unglazed clay/terracotta vessel is partially buried in the ground, and this is then filled with water. The water travels through the clay walls of the pot, and the water is then drawn out into the soil. Normally a bung/rock is used to close the opening of the pot to prevent animals such as mosquitoes breeding in the standing water.

Such a system works very, very well.  In fact, it works so well that Bainbridge (Agricultural Water Management 2001) notes that a cucumber crop, grown using clay pots, yielded comparable yields using just 27% the amount of water as a crop using traditional watering methods. Other studies are also mentioned.

Even though it is an excellent system it does have a downside, that each of the pots needs to be manually filled. Filling would only take a few minutes with a hose or watering can, but will need to be done every few days/weeks depending on the types, and number, of plants surrounding the pot, soil characteristics, climatic conditions, etc.

Enter ‘wetpots'...

Wetpots are a form of clay pot irrigation that have been developed by Peter Wakeling, an Australian harking from SE Queensland. What Peter has devised is a system by which the wetpots are automatically kept filled by connecting them using standard 4mm irrigation tubing, and a header tank. Gravity pushes the water along the 4mm tubing, filling each of the pots, and they then bleed their water into the soil.

The real advantage of this system is that you only need fill the reservoir, not the individual pots. This saves a great deal of time, back-ache, and also reduces the chance that a pot will get ‘missed’ and thereby those plants go without water.

The basic system is something like this...

At TSH, we have used the wetpots extensively in the front yard (designated as an orchard area), and the following video shows the wetpot system in operation.

If you are interested in trialling the wetpots in your area then contact Wetpot Industries for kits, or contact Shane at TSH for more information.

---

Add this page to your favorite Social Bookmarking websites