Drip irrigation, how easy and efficient it can be.

Alasgun

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Heres a couple more pictures showing a single line and a single bed. Use this as a guide to determine what you may need and go from there. This stuff is quite affordable and lasts a long time.
 

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secuono

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I used the Ts instead of puncturing the line. It was easier to do.

I should of done this when I had a garden, but I guess I like my trees more than I ever liked the garden. 😶
 

Alasgun

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A few more tidbits and im done.
emitters come in 1/2, 1, 2.5, 4 and 6 gallons per hour delivery rate. Since we’re watering things with different water requirements if we want to keep everything simple we just use the appropriate dripper and determine that by dividing 60 min by the dripper rating then multiply that by the length of time the system will be on To determine how much water each plant is getting.
Around here cucumbers use 6Gph emitters, tomatoes and celery 2.5 and beans get 1Gph emitters and my timers in the garden and greenhouse are set for an 8 minute run time twice a day.
my fruit trees have 1Gph emitters and run for 1 hour each day.

There are lots of various systems out there, this tutorial details the simplest and therefore cheapest components. There are systems using couplings at every joint in the lines, larger and smaller hose sizes, timers in endless variety, filters, fertigation applicators, pressure reducers etc. etc. There are static systems and ones using pressure compensated emitters as well.

Netafim even makes a commercial robot that will travel thru your field and lay out the lines and spool them up at the seasons end completely unatended!

If this is something of interest to you, do a little reading to gain some basic understanding of the options and give it a try.
 

ninnymary

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Well geese Alasgun, that robot sounds perfect for me! haha

I know the system would be simple in my raised bed since things are planted in rows. But I have in ground beds where the plants are not in rows but just all over the place.

I'll try small in a few weeks. Right now my husband is in the process of painting our kitchen and he says the cabinets are going to be a bear according to some youtubes he has seen. Cabinets are made out particle board and I think real wood also but they supposedly will need a coat of primer and then of something else, plus probably 2 coats of paint! Needless to say he's not too happy and therefore I can't push too many projects on him right now, haha.

But installing a drip is important to me since I plan to retire this year and want something for when I'm gone.

Mary
 

flowerbug

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if you are going to be gone make sure to put some kind of limiter on the volume the system is letting go each time it runs. you don't want a leak to run up your water bills.
 

Alasgun

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@flowerbug, thats the purpose of a digital timer. It will control the frequency it waters, the time it waters, when it starts and stops etc. etc.
And a host of other things!
 

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