Dig This
It can be easy to forget to water plants and we often waste water when we do. GrowOya solves both issues, elegantly.
This terracotta watering system simplifies—and improves—the process of caring for your plants. Simply dig the Oya into the soil (with the spout exposed) and fill it up every few days. Boom . . . you’re done. The Oya and your plants work together to do the rest.
The Oya’s porous terracotta material releases water slowly near the roots, where it's needed. This method saves a LOT of water (up to 70%) because it reduces runoff and evaporation. Put one or more pots in places that the hose or sprinklers can’t reach. Or use them anywhere and everywhere for effective, efficient watering.
Founder Josh McWilliams wanted to water his rooftop garden sustainably. So when he discovered the “olla” (pronounced ‘oya’), an ancient way of gardening with terracotta pots, he saw a chance to change the way people care for their gardens today. Fellow Founders Kenny Torrance and Brant Cheetham joined and GrowOya was born.
With the time-honored wisdom of the Oya, you’ll save time, save water, and grow happier plants.
Brant
Hi everyone! We're proud to introduce GrowOya to The Grommet. This time-honored terracotta vessel is planted in the ground to naturally, perfectly, water your garden -- dramatically reducing your water waste and watering time. I'd be happy to answer any questions you have.
Jane
4/3/2015 12:13 PMSimple elegance! Love it!
Brant – Special Guest
4/3/2015 12:17 PMThanks Jane. Agreed.
Benjamin
4/3/2015 12:16 PMhow does a customer know what size Oya to purchase?
Brant – Special Guest
4/3/2015 12:20 PMIt's really easy Benjamin. The small will water an area 2 feet in diameter (think patio pot), the medium will water an area 3 feet in diameter (raised bed) and the large will water an area 4 feet in diameter (big garden rows).
Here is a visual guide.
Benjamin
4/3/2015 2:00 PM@Benjamin
Justin
4/3/2015 12:16 PMHow many do I need to buy for my garden? Say I have a 10 foot by 10 foot garden fully planted.
Brant – Special Guest
4/3/2015 12:22 PM@Justin
Brant – Special Guest
4/3/2015 12:27 PMHey Justin - Sounds like the ideal for a 10x10 would be 5 large Oyas. Plant them like the five side of a dice. That way you'll get plenty of coverage.
You could also think about using Oyas on just a portion of your garden. Use two or three on half the garden and see how you like them. We're convinced you'll be back for more.
deborah
4/3/2015 2:50 PM@Brant I have two raised beds 3 x 4 each, which size would be best for me. These beds are off the grounds about 32 inches and are 9 inches deep
Mike – Grommet Team
4/3/2015 5:07 PMHi Deborah, Brant can correct me if I'm wrong, but based on your dimensions a medium would work nicely. It would provide great coverage to most, if not all of your garden. The medium is 10" tall, but because the spout of the GrowOya sticks out about an inch anyway, this might be a perfect fit!
Brant – Special Guest
4/3/2015 11:13 PMIndeed. a medium Oya could work in each of your beds. The medium would cover up to 3 feet in diameter so there would be a space in each bed that doesn't have coverage. If you were to plant a large Oya in each bed you would be very well covered. That's likely what I would go with.
Mary Jane
4/3/2015 12:20 PMGreat idea for those of us in CA, now under mandatory water restriction!
Brant – Special Guest
4/3/2015 12:22 PMAgreed. The water situation is really scary, California and beyond. I think water restrictions are inevitable. We simply use too much water.
Kim
4/3/2015 12:30 PM@Brant
Would it make sense to plug the spout with a cork or something similar so it doesn't drown small creatures/insects? I have california newts in my garden and I could imagine many of them ending up inside the Oyas.
Vickie
4/3/2015 12:29 PMI live in Arkansas and I am worried about this becoming a mosquito breeding pot. Do you have any suggestions for keeping larvae from growing??? Thanks.
Brant – Special Guest
4/3/2015 12:33 PMVickie - We've designed our Oyas to have the smallest opening we could get away with at the top to avoid too much exposure (bugs and evaporation).
We also encourage people to put a lid or a cap on the Oya if they're worried about either. That might be the Arkansas answer. We’ve seen all kinds of creative lids used—flat rocks, garden gnomes, toy trucks… You choose whether you want a lid at all and what type fits your garden.
Kim
4/3/2015 1:22 PM@Brant Would you consider offering cork lids at some point in the future? I have california newts in my garden and I can imagine lots of them ending up in the Oyas.
Sara
4/3/2015 12:35 PMI live in Iowa. Can they be left in the ground during the winter? Will freezing and thawing damage them? Neat idea for when you are on vacation and can't water for awhile.
Brant – Special Guest
4/3/2015 12:43 PMSara - We suggest that you pull up your Oyas in the winter if you live in a region that gets notable freeze. Iowa falls in that, right? The water in the walls of the Oya will expand when frozen and could crack your Oyas.
So, it's best to pull your Oyas up before the ground freezes, clean them off and store them dry. Pulling them up year after year will help keep your Oyas working for you for five+ years.
Brant – Special Guest
4/3/2015 12:48 PMAnd yes, as a vacation garden tender it's a perfect fit. Fill your oyas and hit the road!
peter
4/3/2015 12:38 PMHOUSEPLANTS! We need smaller test-tube sized!
Brant – Special Guest
4/3/2015 12:44 PMWe're working on it Peter. Keep an eye on TheGrommet in the coming months :)
Anne
4/3/2015 12:42 PMI love the concept but wonder why they are made in China?
Brant – Special Guest
4/3/2015 12:46 PMChina is where the concept originated. They've been using terracotta vessels for localized irrigation for 4000+ years in China. It made sense to us.
Kerry
4/3/2015 1:07 PMWith many Western (esp. California) & Southeastern states enduring drought conditions & water restrictions; this is a fantastic way for gardeners to make the best use of water. I highly recommend that gardeners also make use of a rain collection barrel, or even collect the condensation from their air conditioning systems, as it is an often overlooked source of water that can be used for gardening. Gardening in drought plagued states can be tricky, but with use of rain & air conditioning condensation sources in a Growoya added to using a good mulching system (make use your lawn clippings!) to prevent evaporation, you can have a lush vegetable & flower garden. I'm looking forward to using these as well as my other tricks to conserve water in my garden) even though I don't live in a drought zone.
Brant – Special Guest
4/3/2015 1:13 PMSing it @Kerry! You're right on the mark in many ways here.
I love the thought of gardens across the US (drought states and non) collecting rain water to put in their Oyas to grow in a well mulched garden. That's just smart gardening. And definitely the direction we need to shift.
Get those Oyas planted Kerry. And keep me posted on progress!
Kim
4/3/2015 1:24 PMHI Brant,
So sorry, I kept responding to other conversations by accident instead of starting my own. My question is this: Would you consider offering lids that fit your Oyas in the future? I have california newts in my garden and I could imagine many of them ending up inside the Oyas. I'm not even sure a flat rock or similar would make a tight enough seal to keep them out as they are tiny and good at wiggling into tight spaces. I'm thinking a fitted cork? Ideas?
Brant – Special Guest
4/3/2015 1:29 PM@Kim yes we have a lid in the works. We're testing several options as we speak and will be rolling something out very soon. In the meantime I'd encourage you get creative with ways to keep those rascally newts out.
Susan
4/3/2015 1:31 PMHello, I love this idea. Just one thing I thought of but didn't see mentioned - fertilizer. I tend to use miraclegro in my water to feed many of my plants, at least weekly. Has the Oya been used with fertilized water? Does it have any effect on the Oya, or on the ability of the plant food to get to the plants?
Brant – Special Guest
4/3/2015 1:36 PM@Susan I would suggest that you don’t feed fertilizers into your Oyas. Make whatever fertilizing you feel you need to do the surface watering exception on your plants. For the day-to-day watering you can rely on your Oyas.
Though the jury is out on whether adding fertilizer to your Oyas is out, I feel it’s best not to do it. Theoretically, if the fertilizer you are using is completely water soluble (dissolves entirely in the water) it should work. But the tight pores of the terracotta will act as a filter for any of the larger particles.
And really, how often do you need to fertilize? Make that your surface watering exception.
Kim
4/3/2015 1:42 PM@Brant I think you might also consider a time release fertilizer mixed into the soil when the Oya is placed. There are several brands of time release fertilizer available and the moisture in the soil is what causes it to become available to the plants. It can last up to 9 months, so I apply it once a year in the spring. It seems like it might be a perfect pairing.
Kim
4/3/2015 1:36 PMDo you have measurements for the various sizes? I couldn't find them. I'm getting ready to order some but I want to make sure I get the right size.
Brant – Special Guest
4/3/2015 1:42 PMI do have those dimensions @Kim. Here we go:
SMALL OYA: Coverage: up to 2 feet diameter / Capacity: 1 Litre / Dimensions: 5" wide x 7" high / Weight: 1 lbs
MEDIUM OYA: Coverage: up to 3 feet diameter / Capacity: 3 Litres / Dimensions: 7" wide x 10" high / Weight: 3 lbs
LARGE OYA: Coverage: up to 4 feet diameter / Capacity: 6.5 Litres / Dimensions: 10" wide x 13" high / Weight: 4.5 lbs
And here's a handy visual of the watering coverage.
Kim
4/3/2015 1:46 PM@Brant Perfect! Thank you Brant.
Alicia
4/3/2015 3:09 PMThank You for sharing this... How wonderful! I am especially excited to share this with my fellow residents of California since our Governor just initiated the first-ever order for mandatory water reductions.
Brant – Special Guest
4/3/2015 3:25 PM@Alicia Yes, agreed! We very much had California in mind in developing the product. An increase in gardeners (which is awesome!) and a decrease in the water available spells trouble if we don't take action. Planting Oyas is definitely a strong piece of that action.
But it's also not just Californians that need to think more about their water use. Across the US this is becoming a bigger and bigger issue that we need to tackle head-on. The bottom line is that we use too much water and that needs to change on a person-by-person level.
And the garden is a big culprit in our water waste. Surface watering in your garden is extremely inefficient. The EPA estimates that as much as 50% of the water used in surface irrigating is wasted through evaporation and run-off. That's a lot of wasted water! We all need to think about how we can garden more water wise. Rain barrels to collect, water-wise plants... It's definitely time to garden smarter.
Barbara
4/3/2015 7:17 PMAlthough I'm all for the oya and the concept, I don't buy anything that's made in China. I look lforward to oyas made with clay that's guaranteed to be free of pollutants. I'd love to read your comments if you have any.
Brant – Special Guest
4/3/2015 8:09 PMThanks for the comment @Barbara. I understand where you're coming from and respect your position. It's a fair one.
We've made great efforts throughout the process of developing our product to ensure that it is being made under the best possible conditions and with the best possible materials. We searched long and hard for a factory that met our standards (social and environmental audit completed) and we're really proud of where we landed.
Fred
4/3/2015 9:29 PM"Oya" is fierce war goddess also known under a variety of names. Here is a ink : http://santeriachurch.org/the-orishas/oya/
The right spelling for this Mexican terracotta flask is "Olla". I have been using them in my Garden.
Mike – Grommet Team
4/6/2015 9:13 AMFred, you're right Oya is a fierce war goddess. But if it's any consolation, GrowOya is a fierce garden tool waging war on wasted water.
Jennifer
4/3/2015 10:27 PMLOVE this! I live in an area with mosquitoes. Is there a "plug" that can be used to keep the pesky insects out without impacting the natural water flow?
Jennifer
4/3/2015 10:34 PM@Brant...I found my answer in another conversation :-) Looking forward to a lid!