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Posted: 1/18/2015 7:08:17 PM EDT
[#1]
I ran drip irrigation for 3-4 years and ultimately bailed on it because it didn't fit our gardening style.
It works and works WELL. But it's best suited, IMO, to long fixed rows. It gets....fussy in the home garden. With that said, I have to confess that Mrs Feral does 95% of the garden watering. So it was kinda easy for me to give up on drip tubes. 
I dealt with Dripwork and found them competent and helpful. If you sign up with them, sign up as a commercial account--prices are a bit cheaper. Good luck! 
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Posted: 1/18/2015 8:41:24 PM EDT
[#2]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
I ran drip irrigation for 3-4 years and ultimately bailed on it because it didn't fit our gardening style. It works and works WELL. But it's best suited, IMO, to long fixed rows. It gets....fussy in the home garden. With that said, I have to confess that Mrs Feral does 95% of the garden watering. So it was kinda easy for me to give up on drip tubes.
I dealt with Dripwork and found them competent and helpful. If you sign up with them, sign up as a commercial account--prices are a bit cheaper. Good luck!
That right there. I use drip quite a bit, have had some really dry summers and sometimes it's all that keeps everything alive. Look at drip tape vs. tubing and emitters, and, to the extent you can, plan your garden around the irrigation... not vice-versa. And, just as those who know anything about solar know that the first step to an efficient solar system is to reduce you energy needs as much as possible, you'll be more successful with drip if you also work to conserve what water is there. Become a mulch guru. |
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Posted: 1/18/2015 11:47:02 PM EDT
[#3]
If your garden is already set up and not very conducive to drip methods, you can always set up a sprinkler system. It obviously ont save as much water as drip irrigation, but I've seen it work very well in some instances.
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Posted: 1/19/2015 8:04:02 PM EDT
[#4]
I would skip the kits and just buy the components you need. Get a roll of hose and various emitters. that way you can tailor it to the individual plant needs.
Tom |
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Posted: 1/20/2015 12:52:03 PM EDT
[#5]
I have over 3000' of drip here on our property for trees, shrubs, and other plants. I put it all in actually buying a shallow trencher to save money over renting one.. Last year was the first year we used drip on our garden and I am sold on it. We had tried sprinklers and hand watering before, but the problem was you always ended up with water in places you didn't want it and thus weeds developed. Drip really seems to help with that. After tilling the soil we put down heavy black plastic everywhere , weighed it down with bricks, and waited a week for the heat to kill the weed seeds under the plastic. We then cut holes where we wanted our plants and planted the shoots and the seeds. I bet I spent less than 1/2 an hour total all season pulling the few weeds that came up next to plants. The way I did it was to buy a cheap sprinkler timer so that I could have the system come on in early morning for however long I needed it. Then I ran 1/2" plastic pipe from the timer valve all the way around the garden in a loop so there would never be an issue with flow. Then I put tees in so that I could run the 1/2" next to the plants, put drippers into the pipe and put 1/4" tubing on the drippers to each plant. The drippers come in 1/2 gallon per hour, gallon per hour, and 2 gallon per hour so you could tailor the amount of water that each type of plant required. For plants like tomatoes that are easily overwatered I put inline shut off valves on their pipe so that I could shut them off in mass if needed. By the way, I am in Lubbock Texas. Our temps last summer were well over 100 degrees for several days, and over 90 for months. I did not see a problem with reflected heat from the plastic. But we did have good air flow to the garden because it is surrounded by chain link fence, so that might have helped. Watermelons, cantaloupes, greens, herbs, egg plant, squashes, pumpkins, tomatoes, and all kinds of peppers loved this system and produced so much that I am going to have to cut back on plant quantities this year. All of the drip system components for the garden came from Home Depot. |
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Posted: 1/20/2015 10:28:21 PM EDT
[#6]
Thank you for the insight.
Our main garden has 7 50' rows and I think I'll drip irrigate about half of them, but I need to look at this year's rotations first. I may be irrigating the smaller one as well. I prefer to buy local so it's easier to add on as needed so it's good to know HD carries it. I also have to check at Tractor Supply. |
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Posted: 1/21/2015 1:13:34 PM EDT
[#7]
Be careful with buying parts from different brands as sometimes the 1/2" plastic pipe varies just a little in size from brand to brand. Once you have your pipe cut off a couple of inches of it to take with you if you are hunting for a certain fitting. That way if you find it you can make sure everything fits exactly right. Voice of experience on this one. Nothing like buying 5 boxes of 20 couplings because they were cheaper and then find out that they wouldn't fit my pipe and I had to take them back... It is always recommended to "filter" your water with some kind of sieve filter before it gets to the drip lines. Well water can always have sand in it, and city water can have crud too. Usually whatever brand of fittings you use will have a cleanable type sieve filter for about $5-8 bucks. It can be worth it. It is also recommended to use a pressure reducer. I use one on my garden because the system is fairly light duty and I can see where 60 pounds of pressure could possibly force push on fittings apart. I don't use them on my big systems because they are all pvc solvent welded pipe and threaded connections. Besides the home stores, some of the sprinkler installation companies that sell to the public will carry drip items. They are typically a little higher than the home stores, but if you need one strange fitting to finish your system, it could be worth it. |
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Posted: 1/21/2015 6:59:07 PM EDT
[#8]
We have around 4,000 of these at the nursery. I forgot the gph, but they plug directly into a 1/2" line and we've got them divided in sections. These all feed off 1" PVC feeder lines with a ball valve. Pressure is somewhere between 80 and 100 psi. There's no filter, but we have a 2" backflow preventer tied into our main line, it has a built-in strainer. |
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Posted: 1/22/2015 1:06:06 PM EDT
[#9]
Quote HistoryQuoted: I would skip the kits and just buy the components you need. Get a roll of hose and various emitters. that way you can tailor it to the individual plant needs. Tom This. And if you go with 1/2" black poly drip tube, make sure you buy all your pipe and fittings from the same place, as there are 2 different 1/2" drip sizes, one retail and one for commercial.
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Posted: 1/22/2015 8:43:55 PM EDT
[#10]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
This. And if you go with 1/2" black poly drip tube, make sure you buy all your pipe and fittings from the same place, as there are 2 different 1/2" drip sizes, one retail and one for commercial. Quote HistoryQuoted:
Quoted:
I would skip the kits and just buy the components you need. Get a roll of hose and various emitters. that way you can tailor it to the individual plant needs. Tom This. And if you go with 1/2" black poly drip tube, make sure you buy all your pipe and fittings from the same place, as there are 2 different 1/2" drip sizes, one retail and one for commercial. The pipe I use is listed something like 1/2 OR 5/8 but I think it's .710 (OD?). Anyway, I like to try to get the pipe with the blue stripe that way the fittings are easy, just use the ones with blue on them. Tom |
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Posted: 1/22/2015 10:58:20 PM EDT
[#11]
Quote HistoryQuoted: The pipe I use is listed something like 1/2 OR 5/8 but I think it's .710 (OD?). Anyway, I like to try to get the pipe with the blue stripe that way the fittings are easy, just use the ones with blue on them. Tom Quote HistoryQuoted: Quoted: Quoted: I would skip the kits and just buy the components you need. Get a roll of hose and various emitters. that way you can tailor it to the individual plant needs. Tom This. And if you go with 1/2" black poly drip tube, make sure you buy all your pipe and fittings from the same place, as there are 2 different 1/2" drip sizes, one retail and one for commercial. The pipe I use is listed something like 1/2 OR 5/8 but I think it's .710 (OD?). Anyway, I like to try to get the pipe with the blue stripe that way the fittings are easy, just use the ones with blue on them. Tom Yes, the .710 is the commercial stuff.
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Posted: 2/1/2015 12:59:47 PM EDT
[#12]
Tagging for info myself.
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Posted: 2/1/2015 2:17:58 PM EDT
[#13]
You might want to consider soaker hoses instead. I have 20 50' rows in the front and back and have been running soakers for several years. The problem I found with drips is that you end up with plant spacing that needs to be used every year unless you change the spacing of the drips. Plus cost was prohibitive. A good soaker hose won't be much more than 10 bucks for 50'. I run the soakers down each row and anchor each end tight before I plant. Then I plant right beside the hose. I put a timer on my feed hose and when the time is up I uncouple and move to the next soaker. I kinda like simple stuff and this has worked really well.
At the end of the season a pull the hoses up and hang them down a fence to get them out of the way for tilling and such. |
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Posted: 2/4/2015 7:30:27 AM EDT
[#14]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
You might want to consider soaker hoses instead. I have 20 50' rows in the front and back and have been running soakers for several years. The problem I found with drips is that you end up with plant spacing that needs to be used every year unless you change the spacing of the drips. Plus cost was prohibitive. A good soaker hose won't be much more than 10 bucks for 50'. I run the soakers down each row and anchor each end tight before I plant. Then I plant right beside the hose. I put a timer on my feed hose and when the time is up I uncouple and move to the next soaker. I kinda like simple stuff and this has worked really well. At the end of the season a pull the hoses up and hang them down a fence to get them out of the way for tilling and such. I have thought about using soaker hoses, but I wasn't sure how many seasons I would get out of the hose(s). Do I have to worry about the hoses clogging up with dirt after a couple years? |
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Posted: 2/4/2015 8:16:35 AM EDT
[#15]
About the only time you would need to replace would be if the hose is damaged. No problems with clogging.
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Posted: 2/4/2015 2:25:46 PM EDT
[#16]
The other thing with soaker hoses is that they're not pressure-compensating, so if there's any slope to the garden it can be difficult to water evenly (downhill part of hose puts out more water than uphill side). If the ground is reasonably level, though, you can probably work around that.
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Posted: 2/4/2015 7:37:54 PM EDT
[#17]
Agree. I've got about a 3' slope in 50' and the front plants get a little wetter. If you are on a slope you can run your rows parallel with the slope also.
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Posted: 2/4/2015 8:39:07 PM EDT
[#18]
It is very good to know about slopes and soaker hoses. I never would have thought about it and thank you both or pointing it out.
I think my garden is pretty level, but I've never really checked it other than eyeballing it compared to a fence that I know is level. I've got a couple months before I can think about seeing what my garden needs for irrigation being that it's currently under about 3' of snow (38" in 6 days according to the local news snow totals). That doesn't stop me from thinking about playing in the dirt and growing season though 
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Posted: 2/5/2015 5:06:29 AM EDT
[#19]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
I've got a couple months before I can think about seeing what my garden needs for irrigation being that it's currently under about 3' of snow (38" in 6 days according to the local news snow totals). That doesn't stop me from thinking about playing in the dirt and growing season though I hear ya! 
Seed catalogs are getting pretty dog-eared already 
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