Please keep in mind that water fans out as it goes downward. You may be using a soaker hose, t-tape, drip emitters or what have you and it may only wet a 3" wide strip on the surface (this depends on the soil type). Below the surface though capillary action pulls the water wider as it goes deeper. For starting seeds you really want the seed bed kept moist (plant near the irrigation line), but for established plants with deeper, more spread out roots you do not have to get the surface of the entire garden wet, in fact you shouldn't to keep weeds under control. Figure that virtually any plant in reasonably soft soil will put roots down to at least 4 inches. Run your tape a while and then turn it off and wait a couple hours. Then go dig down 4 inches and see how far the water has spread. You want all of your plants to be able to put roots into that moistened area. This will govern how far apart you space your irrigation lines for the crop. Some plants in reasonably soft soil will work roots out a few feet from their location, others just a few inches. To start with figure that plants which are small also have small root systems and plants which are large have large root systems. By planting similar sized plants together you can use the same spacing for the runs. With tomatos, for example, you might space them 3' apart in a row and then just run one tape along their path, but for small plants like lettuce or radish you might wish to run tapes closer together. You will have to do a little trial and error, but will get it down in no time.

Hmmm, I still have some green berries left, will have to look for rubber snakes. I do have a garter snake who lives in the garden but doesn't seem to bother the squirrels. Electric netting looks interesting - 28" tall and open at the top good enough? I'm assuming squirrels can't jump that high. I'm also going to build a chicken run (in my spare time LOL) and have the 4ft tall 23 mesh and some poultry wire (my uncle said put UNDER the run as well as over top to keep predators from digging). Electric might work there too? Except I would think you'd still need top (for hawks) and bottom (for foxes digging)... No one thinks I need to move the bed and try to bury the wire to keep the rodents out?

a, Below is info on installing drip irrigation. http://www.ehow.com/how_5900550_install-drip-line-irrigation.html There is other info and different ways to do drip irrigation on line. All need screw-on-the-faucet vacuum breaker with pipe-threaded end, an in-line pressure reducer(regulator) to 20 psi(for drip), pipe thread adapter with poly line end to run the poly line and last a poly line to drip tape adapter. All the big box stores can help you with what you need as well as many on-line stores. It is a good idea to know your pressure(faucet screw on gauge) and the flow rate(GPH or GPM) of your source(time the filling of a 5-gal bucket). Let us know how it goes or if you have any other questions ask away. Aloha

I am on the same page as everyone else. I can understand the confusion at first when you are are looking at the website. My advice to a newbie is to order the beginner kit from dripworks and just spend a few hours in the field figuring it out. Then order more of what you need. Delivery times is pretty short if ordering "fittings". I like using driptape barbs that have the shut off valve. Once you have all the bits and pieces you will reuse them for years to come. 1 tip I figured out myself when I first started with drip is I do everything with the water running. yes I get wet but I see right away if there is a problem. I will reuse tape with in the season ie when replanting a bed from broccoli to late beets. But I do not save tape from year to year. Perhaps I'll rethink this in the future. Also 1/2" mainline is also called orchard tubing. I order my mainline and drip from nolt's midwest produce supply and I order all the "bits" from dripworks. I'd estimate that a first time buyer would spend less than $300 for mainline drip and "all the bits" and mainline and drip rolls would last for at least 2-4 years? Good luck once you buy into drip you'll wonder why you were so afraid of it in the first place. Kristi