lawn irrigation combined with drip irrigation
brankulo
14 years ago
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lehua49
14 years agobrankulo
14 years agoRelated Discussions
new drip irrigation setup
Comments (1)e, Your description of what you want to do sound good to me. By reducer (there is a fitting called a reducer or adapter) are you talking about pressure reducer. You will need one. You can do it before all the beds so you need just one or you can do it for each beds. 80 psi is very high for drip so you may have to step it down with more than one pressure reducer. Aloha...See Moredrip irrigation in san francisco
Comments (20)I hadn't meant to be abusive of Joe's points, just a counterpoint. Just a note about Urban Farmer's services, they are a full service irrigation store, and sell all the materials to install a conventional spray irrigation system as well. I would like to counter one of Joe's points, about drip irrigation being cheaper to install. I don't find that to be the case, in the systems I design and install, there is more hand labor involved to get emitter line to individual plants, so I'd say that the different systems are probably about on par or even slightly more expensive for a drip irrigation when using higher quality/more reliable fittings and materials. Also, as to the point about needing pressure regulators for drip systems, what is your point? The pressure regulator is not some expensive or elaborate device prone to failure, and even a conventional spray irrigation system will often require a pressure regulator at the valves if the house or street pressures are too high. Where drip irrigation excels is the benefits of using it on difficult to water steep slopes where spray irrigation would cause run-off at the higher application rates, and is not as good at giving deeper watering. You can also get away with using less valves with a larger area of coverage in a typical garden setting, because the water flows required are less volume and pressure. As to maintenance and repairs, I often find that clients with dogs and conventional spray irrigation systems may have more need of regular inspections to repair broken irrigation heads, especially if they conflict with a large dog running along an open metal fence at the street. As well, pop-up spray irrigation heads are equally prone to damage from autos driving over them or lawn mower blades clipping them, and when broken and set to run overnight, the wasted water will be far more wasteful than it would be with a lower flow/lower pressure drip system. I would not waste my time trying to convince someone who has their mind made up about their preferences in irrigation systems, but it is not as black and white as Joe would make it appear. Everyone should irrigate in a way that makes sense for their particular situation. I simply believe that drip irrigation in combination with micro-spray drip can create superb results while also using less water overall. Joe's contention that drip irrigation does not permit deep rooting of plants is only germane for those who don't run their systems long enough to wet the soil deeply. This is also very much a concern with spray systems as well, as most gardeners simply don't know how long it can take to deeply water a clay soil. Most spray systems will cause run-off in clay soils if watered for more than 10 to 15 minutes on a sloping site, and this won't wet the soil much beyond the first inch or two. Not to mention the water lost to wind/over throw spray, and evaporated water lost to the hot sun in combination with winds. In any case, both spray and drip irrigation design have their pros and cons, and the majority of residential homeowners are more likely to be timing their irrigation by schedules rather than plant needs, nor do most adjust their watering schedules more than once or twice a year to reflect the weather and seasons. In specifying which type of system makes more sense for an individual homeowner/client, it helps to weigh all the factors that should influence such a decision. While working as a landscape architect for a large firm doing subdivision homes for a developer, I had occasion to design a subsurface system using Netafim for lawns in this development. I can tell you that it drove the new home buyers crazy, as too many didn't trust that it was working properly, and would reset their individual home's irrigation controllers to vastly overwater the lawns, as they couldn't see it working. While it may make sense to use such a system for a commons area landscape that isn't subject to the whims of different homeowners, I wouldn't recommend it again for the average garden. The one place I would always recommend a spray system over a drip system would be for a client who can't control their dog's digging and chewing of things in the garden. A drip system will be much more vulnerable to damage in such a garden. I've also found that the most common animal damage to drip irrigation systems in my experience has been with squirrels chewing off the hard plastic mister heads I use in gardens which may have subtropicals such as bromeliads mounted on fences or trees. I've learned that the misters should never be mounted on the top of branches, but always on the bottom of a horizontal branch, to make it more difficult for the squirrels to do damage....See MoreDrip Irrigation for Hosta Beds
Comments (13)there is no guarantee that the 6 or 9 or 12 inch intervals will be near your plant's root zone. I'm probably going to have to look at different types of emitters. ===>> i am going to give you a duh on this one .. you run the water.. until the space between the emitters is wet ... you discover said time ... by digging hole between emitters.. until you know the time..and with a given time.. and a given amount out each emitter ... you can predict how much water is actually used ... at the link above i gave you it said: Techline EZ can be connected to a previously-installed 17mm Techline system and has the same dripper flow rates: 0.26, 0.4, 0.6 and 0.9 GPH. so if you put down a line with 100 emitters ... with a rate of .4 gal/min ... well.. you do the math.. and understand.. unlike an overhead system.. 99% of it.. will go into mother earth..a s compared to 50% of it.. drifting away ... and when you figure out.. how long it takes to go 6 inches [half the 12 inch space] ... get this.. you will also be watering SIX INCHES DOWN ... when it the last time.. you effectively watered to 6 inches deep??? and how often will you need to water.. if you can effectively put it into the middle of the root zone???? now cheap 'nure aside.. it only took me 2 years.. to figure out digging holes.. lol ... so double duh on me.. lol ...its all about your soil.. and how your soil drains.. you will NEVER get a direct answer.. until you try it ... BTW.. you can use a couple fittings.. and simply make a hose fit to the end of the techline .. as a starting point.. you can always connect it to a supply line later ... i truly do NOT know.. if the individual emitter thingees.. will work in ground freeze areas ... you need only drain the supply line ... and at that.. only enough to allow enough expansion so it wont crack.. MOSTLY LIKELY ... a drain/spigot at a low point.. might get most of it out.. if your whole yard leaned on way ... but yes.. i did buy a compressor ... the techline .. and tape.. drain themselves ... its only the supply line that needs encouragement ... and you can NOT use quick connects.. as they reduce pressure too much ... one would think a half inch pipe would deliver more pressure than a one inch pipe, at distance ... but thought the pressure is higher.. the sidewall resistance is higher.. effectively reducing the pressure at the far end ... [i now that isnt proper engineering terms.. its the idea i am trying to get across] try to find your mortgage map ... get it scanned.. enlarge it... make multiple copies .... and start drawing on your beds in general blobs .. and then use that.. to try to develop a supply route .... also.. techline can be buried in mulch.. but the downside to that.. is you get no ambient humidity.. which on conifers.. i find requisite ... its ugly in winter .. but i recommend it be on top ... and it effectively disappears.. as the hosta emerge ... ken BTW.. you will need a handheld torch.. for ease of installation ... to warm the tube.. for easy insertion of connectors ... NBD ... Here is a link that might be useful: connectors and such...See MoreHeirloom Tomatoes, Watering and Irrigation using Drip
Comments (10)Agree with Mulio. Heirlooms has nothing to do with it. Raised beds - if I understand your info correctly - will dry out more quickly than in-ground beds so closer monitoring of the soil moisture level is required. That means digging down by hand, sticking your finger deep into the soil to check it on a frequent basis before you water. Right now it sounds like you are watering too frequently and too shallowly. MUCH deeper and less frequent watering is much better for plants for the reasons Mulio already mentioned. Plus the roots don't hang right around the stem, they spread out for several feet. So 1 dripper at the stem base isn't sufficient. Depending on spacing you may need an additional 2-3 drippers between plants. A trick to setting up a drip system - take an empty soup can and bury it in the soil so the top rim sits right at the top of the soil, put a dripper over it, run your system and see how long it takes to fill the can. That is approximately how long you need to run your system 1x a week. If the weather is especially hot, if your plants are not well mulched, or if your soil drains quickly it will be more often. If it rains adjust accordingly. As the plants grow and set fruit increase accordingly. Hope this helps. Dave...See Morebrankulo
14 years agobrankulo
14 years agolehua49
14 years agobrankulo
14 years agolehua49
14 years agobrankulo
14 years agolehua49
14 years agobrankulo
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14 years agobiglumber
14 years agoAlissa_M
12 years agolehua49
12 years ago
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