Help with  Drought Conditions:

Porous capsule irrigation
is an efficient modern

adaptation of buried clay pot
irrigation.
The capacity of these
capsules can be <1 liter up to
15 liters or more. Porous
capsules can be networked
more easily than pots and
completely buried.
They can be operated in a
pulsed or continuous mode.
Larger capsules should be
used for a system that will be
operated in a pulsed pattern.
They are usually set up to run
off a storage tank. They can
also be attached to a bottle, or
pressurized water line.
A porous capsule typically
has two openings (although a
few have had four, some just
one), to permit connection to
tubes or pipes in a network.
Porous capsules are
usually set up with relatively
large diameter connectors
that require less filtration and
lower pressure than drip
emitters.
A wide range of shapes
have been used, from pots to
ollas, pipelike sections to
vertical cylinders, bottles and
flasks.
Like a buried clay pot or
buried clay pipe the water flow
through the clay walls is
influenced by the use of water
by the plants. Hawkins (1910)
found water use with 40 cm
negative pressure averaged
just 39 ml per plant per day
for fava beans (Vicia faba)
over 49 days. Growth was
better than for conventional
surface irrigation. This must
be close to the minimum
possible. It is almost like
having a iv line for a person.
Porous capsules have
been produced in factories
and by individual potters. I
have made mine by gluing
clay pots together. An
Australian company,
Wetpots, (http://
wateringsystems.net, is
marketing a commercial
capsule system. A number of
companies have made small
plant waterers for use in
container plants.
MY FIRST POROUS
CAPSULE 1988
DAVID A. BAINBRIDGE 2012 RESEARCH NOTE
Porous Capsule Irrigation
Contact information
email: sustainabilityleader@gmail.com
EARLY EXPERIMENTAL
CAPSULE RESEARCH
BRAZIL, MEXICO
1970s and 1980s
POROUS CAPSULE SYSTEM COBRA CO. CHINA WETPOT AUSTRALIA