Watering pot for flower beds

The principle has been known for thousands of years. A vessel made of low-fired, therefore porous clay is buried in the ground and filled to the brim with water. As soon as the clay surface has soaked up, the stored moisture is released back to the outside as needed. This way, you can ensure your plants' water supply even on dry, hot summer days - even without connecting the garden hose or filling the watering cans again every evening.

With its expansive, bulbous shape, this variant of the watering pot is primarily intended for use in open beds. Insertion is simple: choose a place near the plants that you need to water very often. In the vegetable bed, for example, these are tomatoes, cucumbers and zucchini. Dig the pot so that its narrow end, including the opening and lid, does not protrude more than one, maximum two centimeters from the ground, and after filling it with water, put the lid on to keep the contents clean. To get the watering effect going, it may be necessary to thoroughly water the surrounding area first as well. As the soil begins to dry, water will run out of the clay pot - and always just as much as is needed at that moment to restore balance. Once this is achieved, the flow of water also stops and the cycle begins again.

The plants benefit from this age-old idea of using a clay pot (Spanish "olla") for irrigation, as they receive their water supply primarily in the root area. This provides an additional stimulus to root growth - and the more stable and healthy a plant's root system develops, the less susceptible its foliage, flowers and fruit will be. And the deeper the root system branches downward, the more drought-resistant the above-ground parts of the plant become. Another advantage is that this watering method usually attracts fewer slugs because the soil surface in the bed remains largely dry. Since the foliage of the plants also does not come into contact with water, the leaves are hardly susceptible to fungal diseases in the course of the season.

In general, watering from below results in measurably less evaporation and seepage losses than with classic watering. Thus, you can even save water. Our tip: Cover the beds additionally with a layer of mulch, for example, from lawn clippings, nettle leaves or shredded material to keep the moisture in the soil even longer.