Conserve Water with Terracotta Spikes & a Living Mulch

The official start of summer is around the corner and the days are getting hotter here in Southern California. We’ve had a very mild spring, and while I’m personally not looking forward to hot days, the hotter days will allow me to observe how my gardening experiments perform when stressed by heat and plant growth. This season I’m experimenting with terracotta spikes and a living mulch for water conservation.

With regards to water efficiency, as you can see in the photos, I’m using wine bottles and terracotta spikes to provide consistent water to plants. This is in addition to a few terracotta pots that are buried in the ground from a few seasons ago. While it has not been overly hot to truly test the effectiveness of the hydrating ability of the terracotta spike, I can anecdotally say that so far the plants have been visually less stressed. I’ve observed fewer occurrences of wilting. Also, fruit growth has been consistent when in past years fruits have been misshapen because of inconsistent watering.

As for the living mulch, I planted a low-growing sweet alyssum and Dwarf Marigolds in the understory. They wont grow more than a few inches tall so they won’t compete with the veggies for light. I am concerned about competition for nutrients between the veggies and the flowers but so far I have not observed any negative effects. An added benefit of interplanting the flowers amongst the vegetables is that they beautify the garden and attract a plentitude of insects, bees and other pollinators.

One last bit of information.. I used sweet alyssum and dwarf marigolds as a living mulch for other reasons beyond their short growth habits. I selected the alyssum because it can attract parasitic wasps and other bugs that attack and feed on aphids. While the marigolds I selected because they can help manage root knot nematodes in the soil.