VermisTerra HydroSpiral Tubes - Pair, 18" Length, 2" Diameter with 1 GPH emitter - Deep Root Irrigation, Tree Watering, Aeration and Feeding - Save Water, Improve Compacted Clay Soils

I design and install gardens in the Mojave desert where water is expensive and surface moisture evaporates almost instantly, and hydrospirals are an essential part of my gardening kit. The fact that these aerate soil and send water down along the spiral grooves is such a brilliant idea. The recycled plastic material is hefty and not at all brittle - in fact, the quality of the material exceeds other root zone watering devices that run $40 or more per unit. The 18"-ers are great for trees, and I'm getting good results by "gridding" multiple 9"-ers in ornamental plant beds instead of laboriously running heads to each and every plant: this gives me good ambient moisture and the option of freely adding plants without digging and re-plumbing irrigation. I also like the fact that I can either get these pre-plumbed or easily do custom plumbing on a blank tube. An extra bonus is the fact that the tops of the spirals can be totally obscured once mulch is applied (my picture shows it with the gravel mulch pulled away so it can be seen). This is super important when trying to create a natural, seamless scape. Shipping is super fast and vendor has gone above and beyond in answering all questions.

These deep watering tubes go really deep. Luckily a good rain came through to give the ground underneath the tree a good soaking. I had to dig a while to get these flush with the ground so be ready to use your trowel for a good hour...unless you have another mechanism to dig a hole. And the material is quite sturdy and the smart design to keep roots from clogging up the tubes is impressive. Two thumbs up!

I haven’t installed the tubes for my plants, but I have seen a friend using them and they work great for deepening the root of her plant. I like to believe this tube works.

I have a raised garden bed for the first time this year, and these tubes are perfect for ensuring the water gets down into the roots where it can be used most efficiently by the plants. I like to bottom water my seedlings, and this gives me a way to do a version of that with the plants in my raised bed! By focusing the water down deeply into the root level, I think it will also provide the bonus benefit of reducing the risk of fungus growth that can sometimes develop from excess water on the plant itself. If these function and are as durable as I expect them to be, I will add more to my garden.

Many of the greatest gardeners I know have discovered Vermis Terra Worm Casting fertilizer and their other products. It seems to me that this family owned company has made it their mission to carry only the most effective, forward thinking supplies. And this is one of them. I have a garden bed that is mostly a mixture of potting soil. I have been trying everything to get it to let water and nutrients through to no avail. I’ve tried mixing clay soil, and bark, with potting soil and that didn’t work! So, as you can see in the photo, I am now trying adding more potting soil mixed with 1/2 perlite to try to get water to penetrate it. But I need something more and these hydro spiral tubes I believe are the answers to my issues. After the very first time I tried them here, I dug around the hydrospiral and the soil was moist outward quite a ways from it. So, it is functioning the way it should be. These were easy to install. You basically have to dig just a 2” wide hole that is about 8.5” deep because you want the lip of the hydrospiral to be out of the soil. They feel durable enough to do the job that they were made to do. The material is very wild in that you can see all these little holes on the sides of the tube (photo 3) when you hold it up to the light. Yet, the mesh is small enough to keep soil out while letting water drain out, beautiful design. The value is excellent in that it solves an issue that many of us have. I have wasted many hours watering this garden bed with little penetration of the soil and lots of money spent in water. So, having something that is this small an expense solve that issue is of great value to me.

Placed at time of planting.

Great use for watering out just planted trees!

I lost three 10’ to 20’ tall cedrus deodara trees for failing to properly irrigate them. I realized I had to do better. After researching I found the hydrospiral deep watering tubes. I purchased two tubes per tree and installed them opposite of each other (180 deg apart) on the drip line of the tree. I also replaced the dying trees and added four new cedrus deodara trees for a total of fifteen trees. The hydrospiral tube has a conical shaped inset with holes along the edge of the tube walls. The drip tubing drips water on the conical inset and distributes the water to the spiraling tube which has small holes along its length allowing the water to be dispersed the length of the tube’s depth. It’s a neat design that distributes water along the tubes length adding moisture to the soil and then allows water to slowly soak into the soil at the bottom of the tube. Plus it allows aeration of the soil via the tube. I have posted a photo on how I chose to cover the top. I purchased stainless steel sink strainers to cover the tube and use a irrigation tubing u-shaped wire stake to keep it place which allows my lifting the strainer to verify the drip emitter is work and to add vitamins and soil conditioner. I used a gas powered post hole digger to install them due to my hard soil conditions. All of my trees have shown new growth and have turned from a light green to deeper darker healthy green.