Irrigation thread.

[Delizzy]

Originally Posted by Dewayne mater

...I note that Howard Garrett, the self styled Dirt Doctor is against drip irrigation, having previously supported it. http://www.dirtdoctor.com/Drip-Irrig...ter_vq3889.htm

Originally Posted by Dewayne mater

Basically, he says plants like to be watered from above and drip irrigation isn't consistent....

From Drip Irrigation - The Wrong Choice Newsletter @ the link given above by Dewayne mater:

Q: Not a fan of drip irrigation? Why? I am confused. I was under the impression that it was the most efficient watering method.

A: In my opinion, drip irrigation works in one situation – row crops where there are emitters at the bases of plants.

Dr. Dirt does say drip irrigation works well for row crops (most of what we plant in gardens, right?) I find it ideal for my garden.

I used soaker hoses for a few years but switched to drip irrigation over a period of 3 years. Last year my garden was 100% drip irrigation. I find it uses less water than the soaker hoses, and soil moisture for each plant was more consistent, and the garden was more accessible because the paths between rows stayed drier. To me the tomatoes and peppers appeared to be happier because the water flow at each dripper was consistent (I use 1 GPH pressure compensating drippers).

With soaker hoses, I had a complicated system of splitters and valves to equalize the soaking rate as each hose was different, and there were even variations in sections of the same hose.

I use one timer for my garden and another one for my fruit trees (which currently are all about the same age and size.) Early in the season, I set the garden timer to run for 4 hours every 7 days, and as the temperatures increase, I decrease the interval as needed so that the soil moisture is nearly dry when the next cycle starts.

For both my tomato and pepper rows, the emitters are spaced 3 feet apart on ½” tubing about 65-70 feet long. I lay the 10 lines of tubing with emitters down each spring and if the soil is dry, water once a few days before I plan to transplant. I then make a hole next to each emitter and put a tomato or pepper plant in the hole and water in by hand, and that is the only hand watering I do.

Our water is very hard here, so I do keep an eye on the condition of plants as we approach the next water cycle, especially later in the season. If I find that a plant is showing signs of lack of water before the cycle (a single plant, not multiple plants) I’ll take a couple of identical containers and lift the hose at the stressed plant, and one that is not and place the drippers over the containers. If the stressed plant’s container fills more slowly than the other container, I will swap out the dripper for a new one and drop the old dripper into a jar of vinegar to clean out any hard water buildup. After a few days soak, I will test the dripper again and if it is OK, put it back to be used again, otherwise it gets tossed into the recycle bin. If multiple plants are droopy, that’s when I shorten the timer interval.

It works for me. YMMV.

Betsy

[Worth1]

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Since my intent is to water each bed, not each plant; the soaker hoses work well. My beds are planted so heavily, it is impractical to attempt to water each plant. By watering the bed, it allows me to replace early season plants with mid season plants and later with late season plants without restructuring my watering system. I do cover my soakers with mulch to protect them from sunlight. The strong sunlight will cause them to break down quickly. I typically only get about two years of service from each hose before requiring replacement.

Ted

[Worth1]

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Worth, while I am sure grocery store tomatoes would probably cost less per lb. at $3.00 per lb., the garden tomatoes are worth every dollar I've spent on the beds. The other stuff like squash, onions, green beans, peas, lettuce, cucumbers, carrots, peppers, eggplants, and a few other things are like a free bonus. This has been my least expensive garden year in many years because so many of my materials are reusable each year. I do have to replace a couple of soaker hoses each year at $8.00 per hose. When I cut them in half to make two 25' hoses, I end up with new hoses for four beds for $16.00. I also just purchased 600 onion seedlings for about $15.00. I now have forty varieties of tomatoes growing under lights for my 2012 garden. I have six hundred onions planted and growing. I have five lettuce varieties planted which we will be eating in about one month. I have one radish variety and two pea varieties planted. In march, I will plant my squash (winter and summer varieties) and four cucumber varieties plus some pepper and eggplants. For all of the fresh vegetables, I have spent less than one hundred dollars this year including the cost of seed.

I am glad I have a water well, because I don't know if I could afford to pay a community water bill. In many communities, a sewer charge is added to a water bill since they believe most water purchased will eventually be in the sewer system requiring expensive treatment before release or reuse.

Ted

[Worth1]

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Worth,

I have my water well pressure vessel set at 60 psi. Even at 60 psi. I still must use small plastic or rubber orifices in each hose to control the volume. Since the water starts exiting the hose at about twenty psi, the hoses are never exposed to the full 60 psi pressure. I've converted most of my beds over to 1/2" diameter soakers and it seems to insure the available water reaches the far end of each hose before the water starts leaking from the hoses. With larger sizes like 5/8" diameter, the water would disperse easily near the faucet valve and never reach the far end of the hose causing uneven watering in the beds.

When we lived in east Texas, we were on a small community water system and my water bill alone would sometimes hit $100.00 per month for my small garden. The water company didn't control the pressure well and the primary pilot valve on the system would stick in the open position and the water pressure at my house would reach 100 psi. Most of my sink faucets would start leaking and the toilet water tank valves would start squealing. They didn't mind because they sold a lot of water when the pressure increased. They finally gave me a pressure control valve to insert between my house and the water meter. I once drove out in the country and found the primary pilot valve for the system and the water pressure on the low pressure side of the valve was 125 psi. I hit it with a hammer a couple of times and in about five minutes, the low pressure side was down to 60 psi.

Ted

[Worth1]

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Worth,

Install a simple pressure regulating valve between your meter and your house. It works automatically and protects your home from excessive pressure which can damage things in your home. I've heard of people returning from vacations to find their home flooded due to toilet tank floods. You can't prove the city water over pressured your system and they will usually deny responsibility.

I installed a 1", pvc, main line down the middle of my garden with 1/2"feeder lines extending from the main line to raised beds on each side of the main line. Each bed has a shut off valve on a feeder line with the soaker hoses screwed onto the shut off valves. I have a single, battery operated (one nine volt battery lasts all summer) timer on the main line which supplies water to the feeder lines and the drip line to my container planted tomatoes. We take long trips to Arkansas and Colorado to ride our ATV in the mountains. When we return, my garden has been taken care of even in the high summer heat. I usually find a lot of overipe tomatoes and other veggies with problems and a few weeds growing, but the garden is well watered on my return. My entire watering system including all pipe, fittings, valves, hoses, and timer probably cost less than $100.00 to purchase and I provided the labor to install it.

Ted

[sprtsguy76]

I've been looking at these for my containers. Opinions???
http://www.sprinklerwarehouse.com/Ra...-360ts-025.htm

Damon

Sprtsguy,

I don't use the little sprayers because I am afraid the water will get on the plants. I prefer all the water going into the soil. If I can keep my plants dry, it seems to help prevent the spread of disease.

Ted

[Worth1]

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[huntoften]

I used soaker hoses when I first started...hated them! Very inefficient way to water tomato plants.

I went to drip irrigation 5 years ago and can not imagine watering any other way. I have my raised beds set up with their own water access with a shut-off valve on each bed. This way I can rotate crops each year and adjust only the emitters.

I have some lines set up for tomatoes and some set up for lettuces, and other closer grown crops. All I have to do is take the tomato line out of one bed and move it to another when I rotate crops each year. Open the valve to whatever beds I want watered and it's a done deal.

I have the garden set up on three zones. This year I'll have four zones with one for my container grown peppers and eggplant.

I hook my system up to 2 rain barrels up by my house and the gravity pressure is enough to water the whole garden...100 gallons at a time. When it doesn't rain, I fill the barrels with the hose and let them sit a day or two to warm up and for the chlorine to evaporate.

[mike5953]

Originally Posted by Worth1

Damon you want to use the xeri spray or bubbler stuff so you dont have the water getting on the plants.

Mine are adjustable and they just put aout a small spider pattern.

I prefer this of the soaker hose and the drip tape, you can take the cap off and clean them out.

+1 on the bubblers!
I've been using them for several years on my tomatoes and in my rose beds (got mine from Dripwrorks).

[Worth1]

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