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Drip water System - Good or Bad

16 years ago

I need to put in a better watering system for my roses. I have been using soaker hose, but I always have some water that sprays out of the hose at such force in certain spots that it hits the plants and hurts the roses. I have heard that the drip systems work better for roses so was wondering if anyone has had much experience with them and what brand has worked best/worst for you.

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Comments (10)

diane_nj 6b/7a
16 years ago
Yes. Check out the "Search" function here on the forum (it is working again). There are a couple of threads on the subject:

Help me with a drip system
Drip irrigation kits
Your experience with Roses and Drip irrigation
Drip irrigation - how to know how much water?

Here is a link that might be useful: GardenWeb Search Results for Dripworks
karl_bapst_rosenut
16 years ago
Dripworks has the best systems and products. They'll help design your system and make recommendations.

Here is a link that might be useful: Dripworks
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Hi, I want to set up a couple of water barrel, gravity fed drip irrigation systems for a large food and herb garden. We have a gentle slope with raised beds (about 120X100 feet total). The raised beds aren't all in the same place thus the need to set up at least four of these systems. The barrels will look something like the ones in this article http://www.emmitsburg.net/gardens/articles/adams/audrey/water_barrel.htm We have no power on this site, thus the need to set it up via gravity. As far as controlling flow I'm hoping to find the proper valve that can be set accordingly so it drips slowly around the clock (and can be turned off in case of rain). I know very little about drip irrigation, what kinds are available, materials and such. So far it seems drip tape is a good way to go however. I don't know if I'll need a regulator valve since this will be gravity-fed (will I have enough or too much pressure?) Any suggestions, advice and/or sources of good information for a beginner? Low cost but good value is desired. I've been reading various sites on line, including this one: http://dripworksusa.com/index.html, also visiting a local garden/farm supply that specializes in organic and sustainable gardening/farming for ideas. The local supply has rows of materials but not many employees who know what it does and how to put it together. I'm on a tight budget so any $ needs to be spent wisely. Thanks very much!
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How to set up a good drip irrigation system?
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I'm using dripline Â 1/4" tubing with laser cut incisions about every six inches ÂÂ I picked up at Ace Hardware. The stuff comes tightly coiled, so it would be impossible to keep it straight unless you pin it down somehow, even if it's been in the sun for a while. As an aside, when we had our backyard landscaped last summer I had them go ahead and run 3/4" line on it's own valve out to where the garden would be. They installed seven ten foot lengths of dripline directly from the buried main line. I turned it on for the first time a week and a half ago when I completed my first square foot box; I noticed this last weekend that the area where the dripline emerged from the ground had become a sodden mess. A plug or three and replacing dripline with normal drip hose and the problem is solved. And I'm actually reusing the landscaper's dripline in my first box, but it still won't stay straight, even after a summer of Southern Arizona heat. Anyway, I've got two short lengths of 1/4" tubing coming off of the 3/4" line going to my box. Each one has a small micro-valve, and then goes to a tee. Out of the two tee's come four ten foot lengths of dripline, that I have coiled throughout the box. I'm still trying to figure out how long to water and, as the summer attacks, I'm sure I'll be adjusting the water duration weekly. It's quite possible I have too much hose in such a small area, but I think it'll work out well, especially once my seeds germinate and I can lay down a layer of straw mulch. One downside that I do see is that I don't have a fine a level of control as I may need later in the season. For example, I've got tomatoes and onions (among others) in the same box, and my understanding is that you're supposed to stop watering onions when the stalks turn brown, something that would be bad for the tomatoes and other veggies. Oh, well, I'm sure I'll figure out something by then ...
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jbcarr
16 years ago
Drip irrigation is great- the only problem I have had is making sure its working for each emitter.. It tends to be "hidden" more than the usual type of sprinkler, and if an emitter goes out (clog easily), the first time I notice it is when the plant is getting crispy. I love it for baskets and containers also, and feel its useful for in ground plants as well. Just keep a watch on things.
doris104
Original Author
16 years ago
Thanks for all your help! Those are good suggestions. I can't find anyone around here to help me set this up so I'll check with Dripworks and see what they come up with. Do you know if they charge for helping you set up your system?
athenainwi
16 years ago
The dripworks design help is free. I started with the Rose kit, and once I started setting it up I decided to hook up everything in my garden instead of just the roses, so I had to place a second order to finish. I'll need to place another order this spring to get the bits I need for my new garden. I really love it and think it's a great way to water my roses without a lot of work or losing water to evaporation.
karl_bapst_rosenut
16 years ago
Unlike the emiters from Wal*Mart, Home Depot, and others, those from Dripworks seem to stay clean better. Whether it be a clog free feature or just better quality mine seemed to stay clog free.
jont1
16 years ago
I have used DripWorks drip irrigation system for hte last four years and have been super plesed with the results. It saves on water by getting the water right down to the roots and not up on the leaves of the bush where it just evaporates off and can also contribute to fungal diseases on your foliage and canes.
DripWorks has excellent customer service and will help you design a system for your garden if you ask them. I have found their products easy to work with and very sturdy.
I would highly recommend them to anyone.
John
dimitrig
16 years ago
Is there a way to connect the drip irrigation to a regular
PVC sprinkler line? I have a spinkler system and it would be
nice to attach a drip system to it in order to water the
container plants on my driveway.
mad_gallica (z5 Eastern NY)
16 years ago
Several years ago, the dry climate people were very fond of 'shrubblers' - very low to the ground water fountain type things. They were small enough not to lose too much water to evaporation, but large enough they could easily be visually checked to make sure they were still working. If an emitter clogs here, the rose just won't grow quite as well. If an emitter clogs there, the rose is toast.
berndoodle
16 years ago
Clogging can have less to do with the brand of emitter than careful maintenance of the drip system if your water supply is implicated.

Two things must be done. First, before irrigation season, every single emitter must be checked on every single rose. What a pain. But somehow, the tops of shrublers pop off or screw down. Entropy at work in the garden. Second, you need a good filter on your drip system, especially if you use a non-municipal water supply but even if you do. The filters are very fine and, like the emitters, must be maintained every year and then periodically during the irrigation season with cleaning. I have to clean my filter weekly because of fine sand in my untreated water.

Drip irrigation is a pain. It's just less of a pain than irrigating without it. All the parts are manufactured at a cost of a fraction of a penny a piece, and the quality is uneven, no matter which product you use. A significant percentage of parts is defective. No one cares. They toss them and replace them.

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