Your experience with Roses and Drip irrigation
wanttogarden
15 years ago
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hoovb zone 9 sunset 23
15 years agolast modified: 7 years agochuck_billie
15 years agolast modified: 7 years agoRelated Discussions
Drip irrigation or soaker hose?
Comments (28)I use both. We have a large property. The bamboos are rather thirsty plants and do better with soaker hoses. My garden beds are densely planted - drippers are not a viable solution - if something were to go wrong, it would be a nuisance hunting for the source of the problem. So soakers go in there too. I use drippers for containers and also for spot irrigation of plants that are isolated from the main beds. Some of my soakers have been in the ground for 10 years, and are still working fine. They are not supposed to last that long, but with annual flushing and the odd repair jobs, I have not had to buy any new soakers in the last 3 years. Do not use the tiny 1/4 inch soakers - they do not work well, clots up easily, and can't be repaired. As for the drippers, I use a type of dripper head with completely adjustable flow, from zero to up to 13 gallons per hour. Lee Valley Tools sells them as B. & D. Shrubbler Spikes, and bought in bulk packages, they are the most economical I can find - at abut 75c a piece. They are supposedly the most used drippers in commercial applications. At 30 psi of pressure, and maximum flow rate of 13 gph, it throws out a circular spray covering 360°, to a radius of as much as 2 feet. Turned down low, it acts as a slow dripper. It is this flexibility that is the next most appealing feature. I do not have to select different drippers with different flow rates for different sizes of containers - something which turn out to be a real pain with fixed flow drippers I had used previously. I use them for containers as big as the 20 gallon box to the small 1 gallon nursery containers. The adjustable flow rate also makes it simple to deal with variations in flow and drops in pressure down the main supply line. The third appeal is that it will never (and i do say never)block permanently since the spray head is controlled by a screw cap that can be removed completely for cleaning. coverage. The fourth reason I love them is that they are tough and durable. Except for about 1/2 dozen where the inlet pot has been snapped off by an over zealous gardener (me!), the 200 or so scattered in my garden are all working well inspite of neglect and occassional abuse (by my lawn mower!). The othe advantage is that it does not seem to suffer frost damage - as long as the system is well drained and the caps are then screwed on tight. They come on a 6 inch spike - which is another reason I love them - they are difficult to lose. I manage to get by with a 6 station timer. The beauty is that once set, I don't have to do anything except a weekly inspection. I also use a siphon device to feed soluble fertilisers down the line. Keep in mind that if you want to do this, make sure that you have a reliable back flow preventer valve in the circuit....See MoreAnyone have experience with drip irrigation packages?
Comments (8)Momma s, I have nothing against your kit per se, but my advise, if at all possible, is to buy something locally, rather than mail order. This is one of those things that you will find you need just one more T connecter or one more end plug, and then, rather than having to mail order again, you can just run down to the store. I found mine at Lowes - they had a fairly good selection. Good luck. You'll do great, they aren't that hard. Just a big puzzle to put together....See MoreDrip Irrigation vs Heavy Clay
Comments (5)Freeze damage is an issue, but has nothing to do with clay. Potential clogging is an issue, but has nothing to do with clay. Where the clay is an issue is how fast you apply the water (gal/hour setting) and how close you apply the water. An issue I don't think I've seen addresses anywhere, is that if growing HTs in a cold climate involves a LOT of replacing roses. Which means a lot of digging that can potentially damage irrigation tubing. So people who take these things seriously around here tend to end up with a fair amount of PVC piping. It is shovel proof, and can be fairly easily lifted in the fall to drain out....See MoreDrip irrigation for your rose garden
Comments (6)The landscape company I work for, as well as most others in the area, use 1/2" brown pipe with pre installed inline drippers. We are currently using Rainbird inline drip tube, because that it is what our irrigation supplier is now carrying. If I had my choice, I would use the Netafim product. If the water supply is a well then we use an inline filter. The tube that we use has drippers installed every 12" and drip at .9 gallon per hour. The drippers are pressure compensated and non clogging. This works for both clay and sandy soil in our area. On sand we space the pipe 12" on center and for clay 18". You install it like the old fashion soaker hoses, however unlike soaker hoses, this system really works. Some of my rose beds at home are supplied by the more traditional drip emitters on spaghetti (1/4" or smaller) tubing. These are susceptible to rodent damage, are more likely to clog and get moved during weeding. As time and finances allow, I will be changing these out for the inline drip tube....See Moretaureau
15 years agolast modified: 7 years agoanntn6b
15 years agolast modified: 7 years agodancingnancy55
15 years agolast modified: 7 years agokublakan
15 years agolast modified: 7 years agoberndoodle
15 years agolast modified: 7 years agoathenainwi
15 years agolast modified: 7 years agoagility_mom
15 years agolast modified: 7 years ago
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