Drip Irrigation

[recruiterg]

Does anyone use an automated drip irrigation system?

If so, could you explain how you set it up (in simple terms), where you bought the supplies, how to get started??? Pictures???

[Granite26]

Not sure if they sell retail but JR Johnson in Roseville could most likely set you up.

[Jimche]

I recommend you check with John Zimmerman of RainFlo Irrigation, in East Earl, PA. They sell to farmers around the world, but also have packaged systems for home gardeners. You likely need a drip tape system, not the more expensive drip tubing. RainFlo has great prices.

The basic elements of a simple drip system are:
1. Pressure regulator - which reduces pressure to within the operating range of the drip equipment
2. Filter - so that the nearly microscopic slits in the drip emitters built into the drip tape do not clog with particulates
3. Header tubing - Runs from water source perpendicular to your garden rows
4. Connectors - That pop into holes you poke in the header with a special tool and screw down by hand to secure drip tape
5. Drip Tape - That runs down the length of each of your garden rows tied off at the end of each row.

These systems are extremely easy to assemble and you can incorporate timers, fertilizer injectors, multi-zone setups, as needed. Be sure to work with the vendor to get a setup that will work right with your garden layout, watering needs, available water flow, etc. Mr. Zimmerman helped me out a lot. There is an online calculator at a store named DripWorks that is good also.

In the northeast, we've had tons of rain this year, so my drip system has been run only twice!

Good Luck!

[Worth1]

I run drip and other irrigation systems and do my own calculations and it works.

I have to go to work but tonight I will try to come back on line and post more information for you.
Until then look at this site and go to resources for more information.

PS dont get the cheap battery operated timers/valves get a real ones and do much more with much less money.

Regards

Worth



http://www.dripworksusa.com/

[Thawley]

Originally Posted by recruiterg

Does anyone use an automated drip irrigation system?

If so, could you explain how you set it up (in simple terms), where you bought the supplies, how to get started??? Pictures???

I've been meaning to post a thread on my approach to the Charles H. Wilber system but didn't take many photos before the mulch and plants covered it all up.

I've got an Irritrol Rain Dial controller and have been quite happy with it. I don't know anything about other brands or options. A buddy of mine runs a large commercial landscape business. When I asked "what should I get?" He said "this" and that was the last time I thought about it. It's easy to program. Very flexible with multiple circuits, schedules and timing options. The one time it lost its program and I called Irritrol customer service, they were very helpful, walked me thru the reset and got back on my way. Would definitely recommend to a friend...

The first two seasons with drip in my beds, I used the brown poly, 1/2" emitter hose with 12" spacing. (Don't remember the flow rating...) I'm sure the plants were happy, but I didn't like it. It's got a memory for the roll it's shipped in and always wants to return to that rolled shape. The long staples used to hold it in place don't work very well in well-tilled, loose soil and no matter how many I bought it was never enough. And the barbed, press-fit fittings take a LOT of force to assemble. (This from a pretty big fella with large hands.) No doubt there are lot of tricks I could learn about using this stuff better, but why? It's also expensive.

This season I took a chapter from Mr Wilber's book, and drilled my own. I used 20' sections of 1/2" PVC and spaced 3/32" holes every 12". I used a drill press, but with care and forethought it could be nicely done with a hand drill. The resulting lengths stay straight, can be easily changed and adapted with common PVC fittings and are CHEAP. The one down side (besides first-time labor) is that my 55psi water pressure needed to be reduced. For that I used a small orifice washer inside a female/female union to reduce the flow (and therefore, pressure.)

I'll try to get some photos up later.

[korney19]

I have been using drip since about the turn of the millenium...

First, let me get an inexpensive system out of the way, it has a timer and can do 20 plants, all for under $40:






The above is a simple setup that is great for containers. For a bigger system, keep reading.

I have an outside faucet, screw on an anti-backflow valve so anything doesn't go backwards into the water supply, then a garden hose goes between this and a master electric valve that is controlled by a timer box. After this valve, I Tee off to 3 other similar electric valves, one for raised beds, one for all my containers, and one for the pumpkin/corn patch. This may be complicating things for beginners but I just use individual valves for different "zones" of my yard.

The main valve also has a filter assembly. Then after it, I have my takeoff to a fertilizer injector. It must be after the valve so it doesn't get constant water pressure & explode! But it's before the 3 zone valves so it fertilizes all 3 zones.

Then the system is an assortment of tubing, nominally considered 1/2" though it is .600" ID & .700" OD. There are a multitude of fittings available, like Tees & 90* elbows & such. This is the mainline, and from it, you can branch off with the same size line, smaller lines, or even drippers attached directly. The drippers in this line get inserted into a hole made with an inexpensive ($1) punch. The Tees & elbows are compression fittings, though nothing like compression fittings for steel or copper or aluminum tubing-- these have a taper leading in and a rather sharp ridge inside, and you push the tubing into the fitting. That's it, that's all there is to it! As the line fills with water flow, it expands and the internal ridge prevents the fitting from coming apart. There are other brands & types, some even with threaded fittings, more expensive, but this system has worked fine for me.

I did mention my 3 zones, mostly because they use different type hose/fittings/drippers. The raised beds use both adjustable drippers inserted into the main line wherever a plant is, plus also a distribution head that has 8, 10 or 12 outlets, depending on model. These you stick a regulating valve inside each of the ports and then just run 1/4" lines from the head to each plant.

The pumpkin patch has a similar line to the mainline tubing, slightly different diameter, however it already has built-in inline drippers every foot. It gets snaked thru the patch area about every 2ft apart.

The containers use both inline dripper tubing similar to the pumpkin patch but 1/4" with drippers every 6", and some containers have pot drippers--a dripper on the end of a 1/4" line, that Tees into a mainline.

All the timers get run thru an electric timer like for sprinkler systems. I set them for 20 minutes in the morning and 20 minutes in the afternoon. Most plants get the equivalent of a 1gph dripper, be it a 1gph dripper, 0.8gph pot dripper (cherry toms), a 1gph restrictor in each port on a distribution head, or 1 foot of inline 0.5gph inline built-in drippers every 6" apart.

I buy 99.9% of my stuff from The Drip Store, www.dripirrigation.com.

I will try to round up some sketches...

[korney19]

Here is a small pic/example:



The thicker light blue lines are the mainline. The things that look like little H's or I-beams are the adjustable drippers. The dark green line is the garden hose from the house, it attaches to the master valve (& filter), fertilizer injector fitting (white) & 3 zone valves (black.) The looped dark blue line is the mainline for all the container plants. The lighter green striped line coming off the top valve is the hose going to the pumpkin patch. The orange lines way over to the right are 1/4" lines coming off the distribution head. Royal blue circles & triangles are tomato cages.

Here's a drip sketch I made up for somebody else's garden:





Hope this helps.

[Templeton]

I run a gravity fed system from a 30000 litre tank.
I use a cheap AA battery water timer - saves me running power out to the yard, electricians fees etc etc. This is attached with standard garden hose fittings to the tank outlet.
It feeds into 19mm black poly with standard fittings that runs down the hill past the ends of my beds.
Simple T ★★★★★★★★s run lengths of 19mm black poly along the beds, with a stopper on the end. (I get about 20 metres of pipe for $15)

I feed flexible lengths of 4mm dripper tube off this feeder pipe using push in plastic bayonet ended joiners. These run to each individual plant. I use the soft flexible dripper tube rather than the stiffer riser type tube - makes it easier to move around

on the end of each dripper tube i put a constant flow pressure regulated 4 litre per hour dripper - these cost about $1.

Because I have limited water, and very high evaporation, when I plant my toms I dig a hole about 30 cm, and put a piece of 2 inch corrugated black plastic drainage pipe in the hole, back fill with about 10 cm of the drainage pipe poking out of the ground, then plant my tomato on top. The dripper tube (with the dripper on the end) goes into the 2 inch drainage pipe - gives me subsurface watering, prevents splash and disease, reduces evaporation.

The pressure regulated drippers means each plant get about the same amount of water.

On really hot days, I turn up the watering time...
T

And Korney, I like your friend's choice of tomatoes - Kelloggs, CP, RBW are all on my germination tray at the moment.