These terracotta watering spikes keep my thirsty plants watered during scorching weather, even when I’m not at home

While I love the large collection of plants and greenery that I’ve amassed outdoors on my patio and deck, when it comes to keeping the containers well watered (especially in the current hot spell), it can take a good while going back and forth with the hose and watering can each evening.

So when I heard about these terracotta watering spikes, £20.99, from Amazon, I was up for giving them a go to see if I could save some time on the daily watering routine. Plus with a long weekend away coming up and thinking about how to water plants when on holiday over the summer, I figure that any time-saving hack for keeping my plants hydrated and healthy while it’s hot is definitely worth a shot.

While investing in a smart watering system that keeps plants irrigated automatically is a sensible option, these systems can be pricey and time-consuming to set up initially. The immediate bonus of the terracotta watering spikes is that they can be put into action straight away with no tricky set-up involved, aside from the addition of a few empty glass wine bottles (which was no hardship to provide).

Using the terracotta watering spikes

(Image credit: Future / Lisa Fazzani)

So how do the terracotta watering spikes actually work? They are based on a slow watering system and ancient practice called the Olla irrigation method, which dates back over 4000 years and was used to water olive trees in hot climates.

Porous, unglazed terracotta pots were sunk into the soil and filled with water, so when the surrounding soil dries out, water slowly seeps out of the pot and provides a consistent source of moisture into the soil and to the roots of the surrounding plants.

The advantage of a slow-release system like this (aside from saving physical time on watering) is that water soaks deeper down into the soil, which encourages plants to develop deeper roots. Evaporation through the topsoil is also reduced, and less water is needed compared to above-ground watering, which is good news, especially in the current hot spell when watering plants in the sun is not advised.

(Image credit: Future / Lisa Fazzani)

Before using the terracotta watering spikes, simply soak the spikes in water for an hour or two before you start (this helps to ensure the terracotta is thoroughly saturated). Next, just push a spike into the soil of the soil, leaving just the top section visible in your container garden.

(Image credit: Future / Lisa Fazzani)

Then it’s time to grab your empty bottle. I’ve found that it’s best to use a fairly long-necked bottle (a wine bottle is ideal) with glass bottles better than plastic as they are weightier and won’t wobble around if it’s windy (which could damage the terracotta).

Then simply fill your bottle with water, hold your hand over the opening while you turn it upside down and then place the neck of the upturned bottle into the terracotta spike.

And that’s it. The porous terracotta spike then slowly distributes water into the soil, allowing it to permeate the soil deeper down where it’s needed most and keep the plants hydrated and the containers moist so that they don’t need daily watering and solve the dilemma of whether to water plants in the morning or at night.

(Image credit: Future / Lisa Fazzani)

The filling frequency of the glass bottles will depend on how thirsty the particular plant is, how hot the weather is and also the size of the container. I gave my pots a good watering before popping the terracotta spikes into the soil and over the first weekend of use, the water level of one of the bottles (in a potted rose container) only went down by just over a quarter, with the soil still feeling quite damp.

(Image credit: Future / Lisa Fazzani)

I’ve found the terracotta spikes to be really useful for keeping the container plants on my small garden deck area watered – which is at the end of the garden and means dragging the hose down to water everything, which can be a pain. You get six terracotta watering spikes per pack, so I have allocated one to each of my palms so I can leave them off the list when it comes to the evening watering routine.

The one small downside of the terracotta spikes is that it does mean that there is a glass bottle sticking out of the pot (which some people might not like) but I got round this by opting for green or brown glass bottles as I think the darker colour blends into the foliage better – although this did mean consuming a few extra bottles of red wine, but I coped.

(Image credit: Future / Lisa Fazzani)

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How’s that for zero effort? Have you any easy watering hacks to share? Let us know in the comments!