GrowOya 1020-6 Vessel Pot Planter44; Large

This terracotta watering vessel is a good idea, but only for warmer climates. If it's used in places that freeze, the vessel will crack and peel.

Nicely made and the little silicone lid that comes with it keeps the dirt out while you are burying it. Working great out in my raised bed! Will buy more when more raised beds are put in!

Sorry growoya.. I keep getting notifications to rate the vessel but some low life went around town stealing Christmas packages off door steps and this was one of them. I'm sure it would've been great.

I did not purchase through Amazon as usual because it didn't have free prime shipping. I instead went through Jet which did have free shipping. Although ordering through a third party, it appeared to ship directly from the company GrowOya. I will update this review after the summer is over and I can make a better judgement regarding its ability in my garden to sufficiently water my garden. But here are my thoughts so far:TIP FOR THE COMPANY: First off, the name GrowOya helps people pronounce "olla" correctly BUT not having the real word "olla" in the title makes it go un-noticed when a basic search is done on Amazon/Google/Walmart/HomeDepot/etc. The GrowOya company is missing out on tons of sales by not having the word "olla" in the the title! I know this because I have been actively keeping tabs on olla companies for over a year now and just happened to stumble upon GrowOya by luck.+ PRICE: GrowOya is the most affordable option for ollas that I have found online in the USA, especially when it is on sale like it is now (currently less than $30 dollars). Dripping Springs Ollas are twice as much as these. The ollas from Evergreen Enterprises, Inc. are about the same price-wise but hold way less water than this large olla from GrowOya. If you live in Los Angeles county, then you could get them from The Olla Guy (on facebook)...$22 dollars for a 2-gal olla. Then there is the option to make your own using simple terracotta pots from any super store and plugging up the hole of one pot by caulking a flat rock to the bottom and then gluing both of pots together with caulk....cost would be between $5-10 per pot. I have made ollas by myself. It took a period of about 2-3 days because you have to give the caulk time to dry and then test for leaks.+ WEEPING ABILITY (see picture): The problem with homemade ollas is that they do not weep out water as fast as these from GrowOya. When I test out my homemade terra-cotta pots, it takes them about 15 minutes to start weeping. When I tested out this large olla from GrowOya, it started weeping in less than 5 minutes. So I think that the terra-cotta pots must be made in a kiln with higher temperatures than an authentic olla. How does this play out in the garden? The plants around my homemade terra-cotta ollas showed signs of under-watering (my tomatoes didn't grow to their normal size). So...I have high hopes for these large GrowOyas, which I think will give water more freely as needed and each keep a 4-foot area adequately moist.+ APPEARANCE: When I opened the GrowOya box, I was in olla heaven. These ollas are not excessively heavy, yet feel solid. The design is simply beautiful with a smooth consistency in texture. There are no dents or clumpy areas on the vessel. I also really like the simply water droplet stamp that is on the neck of the olla, which is a nice touch but also functional in that it is a guide for how far to bury it in the ground.-NO LID: Although the company claims that the narrow two-inch opening should keep evaporation down, I live in dry, dry UT and seriously doubt that claim. Personally, I will be finding something to use as a lid to keep evaporation to a nil and also keep bugs/critters/debris out of this olla.-TINY CRACKS AROUND BASE LOGO (see picture): At the bottom of these GrowOyas is a stamp imprint of the company logo. Around the imprint are very tiny cracks. When I performed my weeping tests, I did not notice watering dripping out at these areas. NEVERTHELESS, I feel like this is a potential design flaw that the company needs to fix through making sure that the base is thick enough to support a company imprint stamp at the bottom. A crack in any olla is NOT a good thing! I will be caulking around the imprint to prevent any future crackage.BOTTOMLINE: These are significantly less expensive than other commercial ollas, have a large water capacity, and are truly beautiful. Yet I wish that they included a lid and that the base was sturdier to support the company imprint stamp. I will update at the end of the growing season.