Raised bed and drip irrigation on the cheap

[mikemansker]

I have a 3 x 18 raised bed (actually three 3 x 6 beds I built on the cheap.

I won't say this will work for you, but this is the second season and I think it will last a few more as it doesn't show any signs of deterioration after season 1. The whole thing is built from cedar privacy fence pickets and corner brackets purchsed for about $20.00 a set (4) on Amazon. There is a 2x4 brace at the middle of each of the beds to provide support.

Probably the most expensive part was the 12 x 12 pavers surrounding the bed. I don't remember what they cost each, but I imagine that the cost was around $50.00.

The drip irrigation is controlled by an Orbit controller purchased for about $35.00. With this, you can control which bed gets watered when and for how long.

The drip line is solid from under the deck and is buried pretty shallow from the deck to the raised beds. From there I used Toro 53640 Blue Stripe Drip 1/4-Inch Tubing Sprinkler with Emitters, 100-Feet available at Amazon for about $23.00.

As I said, this works great for me and fits right into my "do it on the cheap" philosophy.

I also did an absolutely squirrel proof feeder from cheap materials at Lowes. I'd be glad to share the idea with you.

Photos of the system.

[Worth1]

Mike that is fine looks great.

I have to bits of information for you though.

One the way the battery opreated solenoids work is they are a toggle relay.
In other words they get a shot of electricity from the battery and toggle on.
They get another shot and they toggle off.
This way the battery last a long time well over one season.
So if you have a good battery you dont need to worry about that part.

The other is.
If you find the lines are so long that they dont emit water as well at the end you can tie back into the main ore feed line and make it a loop.
They sell male-male and female-female fittings just for this.

So lets say with a 100 foot run of soaker hose it isn't coming out well towards the last half.
You get a hose splitter connect the soaker hose on it and run it where ever you want it.
Then connect a hose or run the end back to the Y connector connect a male male fitting and connect the end of the line or hose to it.
You have now created a water loop and have more even distribution.
You are feeding from both ends.

Worth

[mikemansker]

Hi Worth,

Thanks for the information. I may replace battery before the season. Each of the lines runs individually from the controller with the first 15 or so feet buried (solid line) and there is probably about 24 feet of line with emitters in each bed. I used the system last year and each of the beds seemed to get an even distribution of water. I believe that I ran them about an hour every other day for each bed. Just turned the controller off during wet weather.

Mike

[Worth1]

You are fine I had to do what I described because I had 200 feet of soaker hose strung out.

Worth

[OzoneNY]

Im going to setup something almost identical to this for my raised bed

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by OzoneNY

Im going to setup something almost identical to this for my raised bed

Guys it is worth every penny of it.
I ran some PVC in mine with overhead sprays for seed germination while I was gone.
That way I could plant snow peas and lettuce etc and come home with a pre-sprouted garden.

Worth