Drip System

[moulman]

I recently received a drip system as a present. It contains 1/2" tubing and the 1/4" tubing with holes in it and also some little valves and "drippers" that are adjustable from 0-4 gallons per hour.

Trouble is, the instructions mention nothing about setting up the flow rate, or what is recommended.

Anybody use these.....have suggestions?

[landarc]

I use a similar setup for irrigation. I have a preference for micro soaker hoses though, and have abandoned the adjustable drip emitter for most of my garden. There are a myriad of formulas and theories on setting up a drip system, but, most of the box kits work pretty well as a system and you can put all of it together without too much fear of capacity issues.

I tend towards 1 gph for my garden because of the soil carrying and percolation rates. You can use a higher rate if your soil has more tilth. Although, come to think of it, I use 1 gph for my business also, so I guess I just like the slower rate of application.

[JerryL]

The first system I bought came from Drip Works USA. I started with the Heart of the Garden system. http://www.dripworksusa.com/store/heartkit.html I still have it.

I use individual drip emitters that are rated at 1 gph.

After about 3 or 4 days without rain I’ll start sticking my finger in the soil to see how dry it is. If I think it needs watering I’ll let the system run for about an hour. This seems to give it a good deep soaking that lasts about 2 or 3 days depending on temps.

The above web site has some pretty good info for using drip irrigation. Under Drip 101 they state “The number of gallons per hour available will dictate how many plants can be watered at one time.” As a point of reference I have watered as many as 60 plants with the 25psi regulator and the 1 gph emitters.

HTH

[EbbMc]

This site has more information on irrigation than you probable want to know but should tell what you want to know.
Ebb

http://www.irrigationtutorials.com/