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.

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

Re: The white lilies - whether they're crinum americanum or erubescens. I have a similar plant that a woman near Tyler wanted removed from her garden. I sent a query to a bulb group I'm on to see if they could ID them (all I knew is they were stoloniferous and bloomed white, like the photo above). Here is the reply I received: "When you next get a bloom, check to see if the stalk has a reddish cast to it = erubescens. Crinum americanum will grow in ordinary flower beds, but doesn't flower as much as it would have in a moister setting."

Yes, because you are maintaining a constant pressure. Think of it like you would for electric output: if you have 10 same wattage lightbulbs in a house the lights each put out the same light provided the amperage is adequate. For water the flow rate is similar to amps and pressure is the voltage. Total water use is like the wattage. In the left photo you are using a lot more water overall. I would do as Happy Hill Farm noted and use the standard 1 1/4" header line. You can then easily tap into it with control valves that adapt to each dripline. They cost about $2 each and will last many years. At the opposite end of each row just tie the dripline to a short stake leaving 8" beyond the knot. Then fold the driptape in half horizontally and then twice onto itself before sliding a cut 4" piece of driptape over the folded driptape. I run 220' lines frequently. The one problem with any slope in the line is that when you turn the water off the water in the driptape continues to flow downhill due to gravity and therefore the lower end always gets a little more water.