Watering solutions?

[KathyDC]

Hi all,

This year I've got about 16 tomato plants going in three rows, and I'm looking for some watering solutions. A drip or soaker hose along the rows seems attractive. Show me your setups!

I'm considering purchasing something like this:

https://www.gardeners.com/buy/snip-n...submit&start=1

Thoughts? Anybody actually use this?

[QAGuy]

I can't show you my setup because it's covered in mulch.

That said I use a timer connected to a spigot in my veggie patch. It uses a half inch feeder hose with branches of one-quarter inch tubing which connect to adjustable micro sprinklers. I tried the button drippers, but found the adjustable micro sprinklers to be better.

I tried soaker hose, but like my current setup better.

I got it all at Home Depot and the manufacturer is called DIG. They have an online guide for their systems here:

https://www.digcorp.com/uploads/down...-Guide_web.pdf

[KathyDC]

Wow, thanks! This looks maybe a little over my head, though. I'll have to take a closer look.

[Koala Doug]

I know people have used the Blumat drip system, but I can't personally vouch for it... my watering system is a 5-gallon bucket.

[SQWIBB]

I use drip Depot.
I run a main line with a low center point for winterizing.
From the main line I run emitter tubing to each bed.
Each bed has a shut off valve.
The emitter tubing is spaced at 12" with ½ gph emitters
The reason I don't use individual emitters in the bed is because my planting changes every year.
I also have quite a few pots and a hanging basket on this system.
The larger air pots and regular pots are fed with a circle of emitter tubing, some have 3 emitters per tubing, others have 2 emitters per tubing, based on the pot size.
A few smaller pots and hanging basket have 1 adjustable emitter.
Every pot has it's own valve to turn on our shut off, same as the beds.
I use a pressure reducer from the hose bib.
Them a hose goes to a timer, from the timer is a backflow valve followed by an inline filter then to the main line.
Hope this helps.

[SQWIBB]

I'll try to find some pics

[Father'sDaughter]

Another thumbs up for Drip Depot. They have lots of great videos on their site to help de-mystify drip irrigation, and pre-assembled kits for different applications. My two 4'x24' beds have three runs of drip tubing running from end to end, and we paid the irrigation company to run a supply line out to the garden and set it up as a zone on our lawn irrigation system. We use a WiFi controller (Rachio) to run both the lawn and garden zones.

I also have a separate section of container plants that I set up with drip using micro sprayers running off a hose connection with a battery operated timer. This I put together and installed myself with help from the Drip Depot videos.

[QAGuy]

The DIG system booklet shows a lot more than what you need. Think of it this way. It's just a large hose to which you connect a smaller hose to which you attach a micro sprinkler.

Here's a link to a bunch of videos for DIG

https://www.digcorp.com/drip-and-irrigation-videos

All the dripper systems are pretty much the same. I do like the DIG system because I can just run to Home Depot for parts/improvements.

[zipcode]

If you have more sandy soil, I definitely recommend the ones with a porous hose at the end, instead of the dripper, like in your link OP, otherwise the water distribution will be quite poor. From what I've seen they are not as durable as some good drippers, however, especially if you leave them over a cold winter.

[zeuspaul]

I also use Drip Depot. My system is very basic. I come off the hose bib with a garden hose thread to 1/2 inch tubing adapter. Then run 1/2 inch tubing to the garden. Then 1/2 inch couple to 1/2 inch drip line with 0.5 GPH emitters spaced every 12 inches. Then an end cap. I don't use pressure regulators or filters. I regulate the pressure by making the runs long enough. The utility water supply is clean. I turn the water on and off manually.

[mcsee]

I think a watering system for 16 plants is getting a bit flash, so this is what we use here (Oz) to put the water where it's needed - at the roots. I grow an average of 30 plants and water using a wand/breaker - so simple.


I use a 2" slotted aggie pipe as shown here, which gets placed when the seedling gets planted. About 3" is left above ground and watering is simplified. The plastic pipe is slotted all the way along the length, so water actually gets out along the length.


Something to note here is, that when the plant is pulled, its roots are often found inside these pipes, so the plant seeks the water and it works.

[taboule]

I just posted a picture of my garden, post 1 here http://www.tomatoville.com/showthread.php?t=50340

You can see some of the irrigation lines in the beds. Each bed has its own, independent system, with valve, filter and pressure regulator. Controlled via timer.

I buy my supplies from Dripworks (no relationship or stake in the company.) For bed irrigation (vs pots), I find the tubing with built-in emitters to be the most practical.

https://www.dripworks.com/drip-irrig...emitter-tubing

Tubes comes in different size/sections (1/4" or 1/2") and spacing of emitters, from 6" to 3ft. I use the latter for tomatoes, the 1ft spacing for lettuce, 2 ft for pepper/eggplants and so forth. One can of course mix and match in any combination to suit the mix of vegetables grown.

[KathyDC]

Originally Posted by zipcode

If you have more sandy soil, I definitely recommend the ones with a porous hose at the end, instead of the dripper, like in your link OP, otherwise the water distribution will be quite poor. From what I've seen they are not as durable as some good drippers, however, especially if you leave them over a cold winter.

My soil here is terrible, it's loaded with clay. And my yard in particular has tons of debris - before I purchased my house, for decades it was a rental house and flop house and people would just throw their trash into the yard, which eventually just overtook it. It was foreclosed on and a filpper bought and rehabbed it, then I bought it. THey did great with the house itself but did nothing to the yard. So I dig up glass, nails, pottery, toys, all kinds of junk all the time. I haven't done much to dig the soil out, I usually just turn it and amend it, but I'm so disgusted with all the glass in my beds this year that I may just dig it out and completely replace the soil next year.

Anyway, rant over! But no, I have clay soil. I could probably do with a little sand.

[KathyDC]

Originally Posted by mcsee

I think a watering system for 16 plants is getting a bit flash, so this is what we use here (Oz) to put the water where it's needed - at the roots. I grow an average of 30 plants and water using a wand/breaker - so simple.


I use a 2" slotted aggie pipe as shown here, which gets placed when the seedling gets planted. About 3" is left above ground and watering is simplified. The plastic pipe is slotted all the way along the length, so water actually gets out along the length.


Something to note here is, that when the plant is pulled, its roots are often found inside these pipes, so the plant seeks the water and it works.

Really interesting! One of my problems with clay soil is water penetration, often I have to overwater to saturate enough that it doesn't just sit on the surface. So just so I understand, you sink the pipe next to the plant, then just direct the hose down the pipe? That would be effective at getting down to the roots, but I'm looking for something that would let me just flip a switch (or push a button) and water my plants. With my schedule, I don't always get out back to water each one and a more automated system would make me feel more confident about keeping them healthy when i gets hot. However, I do like this idea!

[Lee]

This is what I use. Can be found at Lowes.



https://misterlandscaper.com/


I do not like the drip emitters. They put out little drips of water in a single point at a rate of 1gph or whatever they are designed for. The water does not spread out and cover the entire root zone area in my soil.


I use the mini-sprinkler emitters that spray a defined water pattern and I place them to get full coverage of the entire root zone.


Also not a big fan of the soaker hose. Again, the watering is too isolated to the soil just below the hose and there's not enough spread throughout the entire root zone for good coverage.


Lee