Irrigation tricks

[Chuck52]

Seems like gardening threads are getting attention at the moment, and there's lots of good ideas flying around.

I'm going to all raised beds over the next couple of years. I have four 4x25 foot beds now and may build as many as a dozen more. I'm using concrete blocks to build the beds and, though my dirt is pretty good, I'm adding organic matter in the form of city compost and manure and such becuse the dirt is on the clay side in texture.

I'm planning to bury water lines to each bed, which will be fairly easy to do since the paths between the beds will all be heavilly mulched. These water lines will just be something like pvc pipe and will all be linked together with shutoff valves and hose bibs at each bed, and will go to an existing hydrant with just a short run of hose at the end. I'll drain the line at the end of the season to avoid having to bury it deep enough for freeze to be a problem. However, I'm not sure what kind of watering devices I'll use at the beds. For some crops, like tomatoes, pepper, squash, and other individual plants, drip-type irrigation with individual emitters would probably make sense. For things like beans, peas, onions, etc, maybe soaker hose would be good. However, I've had poor luck with soaker hose when I've put it down and taken it up. It always seems to develop leaks, probably from being handled, because I always kink it when trying to roll it up. Since my beds are mainly going to be only four feet wide, perhaps some kind of sprinkler hose down the middle, or along both sides would work, but all that hose can add up to $$$, and it doesn't last all that long either. Anyone got any cool irrigation ideas I might incorporate in my garden design?

Chuck

 

[rickmacheske]

I put in big rotary sprinklers on the fence posts which are 20' apart. It covers the entire garden and is very easy. The bad part is that I water the weeds as much as the veggies.

 

[Robert_in_NY]

The bigger guys around here use drip tape as it only needs 10-15 pounds of pressure. Everyone else uses rotary sprinklers. The drip tape can be laid in the row under plastic if you are using plastic or on top of the ground or hung in the air if your crop is supported by wire.

I am going to go to drip tape next year but for now I am still using the rotary sprinklers.

 

[Chuck52]

The normal sprinklers would water my paths as much as my raised beds. The drip tape sounds useful, especially if I planted in rows, which works fine for beans and corn and other things. A mass planting of greens, lettuce, beets and such would be easier to shower somehow. There are probably sprinklers that could be arranged along the sides of a 4x25 bed which could be set up to only water the bed. I could probably make something from pvc, though the water prseeure would have to be just right.

Chuck

 

[Toiyabe]

There's a variety of micro sprinklers on the market which would do the trick for you. I prefer T-Tape myself - uses less water, doesn't water the weeds, and doesn't get water on the foliage.

Micro sprinklers use the same 1/4" barb fittings as drip emmitters. You can buy them on a small stake, the coverage area runs from about a 2' to 8' radius, and they have full circle, half circle and quarter circle models. I like the "Ein Dor" type best, but I've only seen it in a full circle pattern.

Drip Irrigation Supply, Drip Emitters, Drip Irrigation Kits, Irrigation Misting, Drip Irrigation System has a nice catalog which may give you some ideas. In my area at least, Home Depot carries a decent selection of drip irrigation stuff (which includes micro sprinklers). Even if you don't buy from them, it is nice to get a close up look at things before you lay down your money.

 

[RobertN]

There are a few types of drip hose available, with 6", 12", and 18" spacing between emitters. Rainbird and others carry it. At each interval(6,12,18"), the hose has a little bulge and a couple holes; it is an emitter right in the hose. My wife uses this in our garden beds. Works nicely.

IF you do drip though, make sure you filter and regulate it. Drip is all compression fittings; anything over 20psi can cause the fittings to seperate. And, those little emitters, whether in line or the individual ones, will clog easily. Use a good filter on the system(it will amaze you how much sediment can be in city water, much less well water).

But minimum 0.700 hose. We have had more problems with big box store hose; we get all of our stuff from a real irrigation shop. We used to have a little garden business; we saw so many issues with the box store stuff; the real contractor stuff is better, albeit a little more expensive.

The normal sprinklers would water my paths as much as my raised beds. The drip tape sounds useful, especially if I planted in rows, which works fine for beans and corn and other things. A mass planting of greens, lettuce, beets and such would be easier to shower somehow. There are probably sprinklers that could be arranged along the sides of a 4x25 bed which could be set up to only water the bed. I could probably make something from pvc, though the water prseeure would have to be just right.

Chuck

 

[Chuck52]

Thanks for the suggestions. I will definitely use the drips for my tomatoes, peppers and squash. I've used drips connected to a barrel of water to keep new fruit trees watered during the long dry spells we usually have here, and that worked very well. What I'm shooting for with the raised bed garden is the easiest, most water efficient way to water the multiple beds I create, and that will require different techniques for the different crops.

Chuck

 

[charlz]

My big garden has eight 4' x 45' raised beds. I buried a 1" pipe across one end and brought up one 5/8" to the end of each bed. The 1" goes back to a valve and filter on my irrigation distribution line and is controlled by an irrigation timer. On the beds I made up my own drip lines using emitters and spacing them out a different intervals for different crops. I have a lot that are 12" spacing, some that are 2',4' and some at 6' (pumpkins etc.) I can just swap the various lines between beds as I rotate crops. I tried some of the hose with built-in emitters but didn't really care for it. For 'wide' crops like onions I use T's to run three lines of 12" emitter spacing. The center line is offset by 6" so it's emitters are between the outer line emitters, seems to give pretty good coverage. I have pretty much standardised on 2gph emitters as I get a good 'flood' on the wide crops and I don't have to run the garden zone for a long time.

Charles

 

[BSVLY]

Charles-Dredging up an old thread. What size dripper tubing have you been using for these beds? and Are the emmitters those round guglers? Or some other type? Sounds like you have put a lot of thought into this set-up.

Also-anyone else have a great set up for irrigating beds like this?

Thank You

 

[randy41]

i grow veggies on 2 acres and i use t-tapes. the rows i use plastic mulch on i lay the t-tape under the plastic. for the rows that have no plastic i have t-tape on hose reels (the ones with wheels) and its very easy to unroll the t-tape and use it and then roll it back up. i have a standard swivel hose connector at the end of the t-tape. my rows are typically 100' long. i have a pressure controller rated at 10lbs in line with my supply line. it works for all the crops i grow. the emitter spacing is 1'. if the tape doesn't line up with the plant it makes no difference since the water will spread out underground.