Drip Irrigation

[barrybro]

Installing drip irrigation for the first time. I have 1 acre of pumpkins, gourds, etc... and about 250 mums I am planting.

I bought it from a place that does drip irrigation locally and they were very helpful. Are there any does and don'ts that anyone can think of?

 

[MrJimi]

Use a good timer and watch the great results.

 

[davkir]

I don't know if this is relevant to your system. If the emitters or orifices are small, make sure you have good filtration in the water supply to keep them from plugging.

 

[mudcat]

Chek this out! Irrigation tutorials; sprinkler & drip systems, design, install and repair.

 

[RalphVa]

I took a tour of Kenland Farms near Blacksburg last week. They put their drip irrigation (actually a high tech drip line by KISSS) about 8" deep. Gets it out of the way of planter runs and tractor wheels. Also, below, it can't be carried away by a small flood, like mine was this spring.

They seemed to have quite a filtration setup on the line and timers on multiple circuits. Each circuit was turned on and off by a battery operated valve.

Ralph

 

[barrybro]

My system is very simple (no timers or fertigation systems) but it does have good filtration. I was able to get on section done last night. Had it on all night and it seems to have worked great. Water was dripping out and the ground looked soaked. I turned it off as we are going to get rain today.

This first section did an area for 250 mums. My next section is for approximately 1 acre of pumpkins, gourds, and squash.

Thanks!

Barry

 

[cityfarma]

... and about 250 mums I am planting.

Please explain to the ignorant (me) what this means, I envisage lots of motherless kids.

Cityfarma

 

[randy41]

i use t-tapes under mulch plastic for my tomatoes and melons. with t-tapes pressure regulation is important or you can blow the t-tapes out. its very effective in putting the water right where you want it.

 

[davkir]

Please explain to the ignorant (me) what this means, I envisage lots of motherless kids.

Cityfarma

Chrysanthemums for you blokes down under. One of my best friends was from N.S.W.

 

[barrybro]

chrysanthemums are also known as mums.

 

[barrybro]

I am using the t-tape as well. And yes my system does have a pressure regulator on it.


Thanks

 

[weedpharma]

For a cheap trickle system for trees etc you can make your own drippers. I used 3/4" poly along the rows and made the drippers from scrap sections of same. At each tree punch a hole and insert a barb connector. Then get a 2" piece of scrap poly, punch it and put on other side of barb. When water is applied, the jet dribbles out of the short section. Much cheaper than commercial fittings. You still need an inline filter. If the dripper clogs, it is simple to clean.

Weedpharma

 

[charlesmc2]

I finally gave up on drip systems. Too many rabbits etc that gnawed into the lines. What do you do?

Charles Mc

 

[Blagadan]

Ditto with the recomendation about getting yourself a good timer.
I dont know if you have domestic range equipment or in the semi pro range but I'll give my 2c worth anyway...

I use timers in the domestic range.
I'm on my third timer having tried several manufacturers. I started off with a "Gardena T14" digital display timer and after the first season it started to malfunction.
Gardena T14...

Either staying on constantly or not working at all. I changed the faulty one for a replacement T14 under warranty and you guessed it, the next year, after a while we had the same problems.
The following year I bought a more basic "Claber Pratico" which worked perfect for about 4 years but started to misbehave recently.
Claber Pratico...

This year I have a "Hozelock Aqua Control Pro" which has the added benefit of a rain sensor.
Hozelock Aqua Control Pro...

So far its working perfectly but time will tell how good it is.

Since we fitted the drip irrigation system, it has saved us a lot of money. No more dead plants. I have it feeding all of our potted plants, hanging baskets, window boxes and all of the flower beds. In all about 150-200 plants. My wife and I have hectic work schedules which gives us little time for watering plants. The micro drip system allows us to have a lovely garden with minimum effort.

In your situation for a productive garden, asthetics is probably not a big concern, the best advice is to make sure you protect your water pipes from sun or animal damage by burying it under mulch or a fabric weed barrier. Also pay attention to the instructions that come with your kit. It will recommend the number of feeds you can run off each main pipe line and recommend the nozzles to suit your application... litre per min and flow etc.
In my case, I had the most fun hiding the pipes around my garden and home. I spent an extraordinary amount of time and effort making sure water feed pipes would not be visible at all. The only place you can see the pipes are where they are feeding my hanging baskets. A 6mm tube running down one of the chains going to each basket. Everything else is concealed - buried under mulch, under decks, behind gutters or even above soffits in some cases.

A bit of forward planning made a big difference to me.