Are These Terracotta Watering Spikes Worth It? | Affordable Olla Alternative 

Update: I found some glass recycle bins in my town and went bin diving and found exactly the bottles I wanted. That was a lot more productive.

You say that, but it appears that plants know exactly how much water they need, therefore absorbing only the required amount available in the soil. It's just a matter of the Olla capacity as to how often it should be refilled, but also it's ability to prevent unnecessary evaporation from the top.

I make mini ollas myself using the same method you describe. Works good for smaller pots. As far as fabric grow bags. Watering spikes do work but you must place them closer to the center of the pot and nearer to the plant. The plant will attach roots to the spike and form a mat around it. However, you will find that you will have to fill the bottle regularly and more often as the soil dries faster and you will lose moisture to evaporation. Water hungry pants in grow bags may require more spikes. Bottom watering grow bags tends to be better in hot windy weather and for water loving plants.

@@jorbinsnoted3579 thank you!!

I have grow bags and a customer at my local garden center said to place them on a big saucer. Not only does it add stability, but when the water runs out of the bag, it fills up the tray and the pot can absorb water during the day. I’ve seen some people use wading pools for them. (Just don’t fill the pool with too much water.) I have these spikes but haven’t tried them in the grow bag. I think if they don’t work, it would be because they might fall over. I bet if you put some 3-4 plant stakes (dowels, bamboo, etc) around the terra cotta water spikes to hold up the bottles, they’d work great. (As a side note, I do have these watering spikes in my actual garden and did a test on two lantanas. The one with the spike is much healthier than the one without.) Good luck.

@@lizhyrkas3989 Agree. Get a saucer for grow bags. On a side note, I did a test with milk jugs and a wicking rope circling my squash and zucchini this year (in ground). I buried the wicking rope a few inches underground circling the plant. I top off the jugs with water once a week to week and a half and add a bit of water soluble fertilizer. Never top watered them at all so far this year. Only when it rains do they get top watered. Those plants are huge and healthy!

@@jorbinsnoted3579, great idea. Did you just use a cotton rope or a webbing like they use in kerosene lamps (or what)?

Same question. Why will this not work with a grow bag?

@@poppew you could probably use them in a full grow bag if you were using smaller beer bottles, but grow bags aren’t as sturdy and the weight of a full wine bottle would probably end up cracking the clay spike

@@poppew or if it wasn’t study enough the bottle would fall over

They do work in fabric grow bags. I use them in 7 and 10 gallon grow bags. Because the soil dries out faster in grow bags you will have to fill the reservoir bottle regularly and may have to use a second spike for some water loving plants. The spike isn't necessarily for wetting the soil as much as the plant attaching roots and forming a mat around it to uptake water as needed.

yes it does, but some of it will keep on the clay wall, but also will eventually be absorbed by the roots

From my understanding one minor issue with terracotta water spikes is that they may accumulate salt that clogs up the their porous walls. So adding a water soluble fertilizer into them may possible clog up the walls inhibiting the flow of water. Probably best to do more research first, but it sounds like a great idea if it works and doesn’t clog the holes!

I’ve put the link to the ones I bought off Amazon in the video description 😊

Doesn't help. No Amazon ever