I have a misting system that I bought from Charleys GH along with timer

You can find most of the parts you need at any big box store. I have a sprinkler controller that is tied to a pump start that I use to turn a pump on and off based on a timer. The pump is connected to a 35 gallon tank. I used standard trickle drip parts to water my plants. My sprinkler timer can be set up to come on several times a day for intervals up to 15 min. You should be able to up any of the microsprinklers or other trickle drip parts on a system like this.

Just curious, but what color is your 35 gallon water container? Does it get heated by the sun?

I was thinking of setting up a rain barrel system, but wondered if I should try to keep the water in the barrel cooler or warmer. Because I'm also planning on using black barrels of water as a radiative heat storage system. But I suspect that water would be too hot to water with most of the time.

Check out dripworks.com

I'm still building my greenhouse, but I used a ton of dripworks items for our growing beds & deck irrigation. Very easy to build and actually fun.

I have an overhead sprinkler system in mine. I dodn;t install it myself, I had a landscape company here locally do it for me.

We were originally going to do almost everything at ground level, but, I kinda started without them and by the time they got here to install it, I had already put a bunch of huge plants in the ground (in my defense, it WAS October, LOL and I needed to get things started before first frost in November/December)

But it wasnlt a problem, they just did the same design but ran the PVC piping around the perimeter at the 12 ft sidewall level and put the sprinklers at that level. Actually its a lot better, because now most of my hanging stuff and orchids get watered.

I only use it when I am really strapped for time and can;t get out to water, or we go out of town. I like to water by hand actually, so that I can look at all my stuff and catch any small problems before they turn into large problems.

Mine is on a timer, it can be as fully automated as I want it. I can use it almost like a mister, or, water once a day, trice a day, every other day, once a week, etc.

I do use drippers but not to each pot.
I bought a bunch of dog kennel liner trays to put on my bench. They seem to be holdin up beautifully to the greenhouse conditions. Then have 1-2 drippers to each (depending on how big the tray is). So the water drips to the tray and spreads to all the plants.
Occasionally I need to move the drippers, but I am hoping a little more reinforcement under the bench done late last year will solve this problem.

Just another idea to add to your bag of tricks ;)

For my one gallon pots, I use a drip line. The plants are lined up 12 inches apart on center and the drip line , with emitters each 12 inches , is placed along the top of the plant rows. Hooks made of thick wire are used to hold the line/emitter at each pot.

Here is a link that might be useful: 12 inch drip line

Thanks for all the ideas. It is reassuring to hear everyone say it is fairly easy! I called a supplier who will sketch out a basic design for me.

cuestaroble...I take it that the drip line you linked to is a complete, self contained system? I wonder how well it would work in a landscape? It says it can be buried under mulch, so I guess it would be ok. Is it pretty flexible?

Another question...does anyone have issues with emitters clogging? I tried one of those mini sprinkler kits last year, but after using it once I had problems with the heads clogging and not spraying correctly. I see inline filters on one website...would that solve that problem? Our water is high in dissolved minerals...is that a problem?

The drip line has a hose bib coupler to attach to my greenhouse faucet, $0.40, on one end and is folded over and tied with wire at the other end. A "self-contained" system if there ever was one. The design of the drip pipe I mentioned has emitters that self-drain after irrigation, so I have not have any problems with clogging. It is somewhat flexible, but 90 deg. angle fittings are available for turning corners on the greenhouse bench.

As for the misting/mini-sprinklers, a simple screen filter, attached between the water supply and the mist line has solved most of my hard water/iron problems. You do have to clean the screen regularly, and you know when to clean when nothing comes out of the misters. Hard water, dissolved minerals, will always be a problem with most irrigation systems. Soaking the emitters yearly in vinegar to dissolve the calcium crust works well.

Yes, my sprinklers clog with what we call "iron sludge" after a while and I have to tale the little filters out and wash them out.

We have well water and its very high in iron.

re:" I wonder how well it would work in a landscape?"

The drip/emitter pipe I mentioned is actually sold for landscape use, but is easily adapted for greenhouses.

I use a variety of drippers and sprayers from Dripworks, and am very satisfied. I have fertilizer injectors at the start of the system (3) so that I can fertilize as desired. One injector for epsom salts, one for calcium nitrate, and one for the general fertilizer. I have a digital timer to control the system. I enjoy watering by hand, but I find that the automated system really works well for me. It means that I can leave for a number of days, and be fairly confident that the plants will be watered well.
Renais

My 35 gallon barrel was white but I spray painted it black. It don't know if it helps with heat or not, but the paint was pretty cheap and easy to do, so why not?

If I could afford to have water and electricity run to my GH I would. But until then I'm using this barrel which I fill up periodically with the garden hose.

I saw a GH (that actually looked more like a shed) but nonetheless they were selling it as a GH..they had PVC pipe (and all the appropriate corner pieces etc) to wrap it around the "rafters" of the GH...I didnt' get to examine up close the type of head it had..but I guess you could add whatever would work for you...misters etc...anyway, the whole thing was attached to a hose piece that ran down the side of the wall near the door and had an outlet to the outside (so the hose piece was sticking out) it had an on/off valve......so I guess you come along with your hose connect it and flip the switch and it waters for you...stuck in my mind as a cool way to water everything.