lehua, Thanks for your reply - much appreciated. I suppose I should have checked more into the forum archives prior to posting - would have prompted me to first check into my hydraulic specs. Our water does come from a municipal source, which obtains it's supply from local fresh water natural lakes/ponds and reservoirs. It is treated with chlorine and fluoride (1.0 mg/l) and has a moderate hardness of 68 to 84 mg/l. I just did a test by filling a 5 gal bucket from the freeze-proof garden bibb, timed it with my phones' stopwatch - and it took exactly 60 seconds to fill to the brim, which equates to 300 gal/hr. The main vegetable planting area consists of (6) 36"+ wide x 18 ft long beds, each naturally bermed about 6" above the 18" wide pathways - which are freshly covered in straw mulch each season. Each row slopes along its length, approx 6" in 18 ft., or 2.8%. We also have a couple of 42" x 12 ft wood-plank raised beds for strawberries, herbs and smaller rotating crops. An 8' x 5' onion patch, 10' x 4' raspberry patch and a 40' x 3' mixed use bed along the east garden fence - all with about a 1.5% slope. The soil composition is 12" to 18" of very rich humus, with a mix of loam + grey clay in the subsoil layers. I have been layering at least 3" of my own organic compost over each bed twice/season, which I first break down with my shredder/chipper. Water plumes have always spread very well when hose/pail watering in the past. Organic additives, such as bone meal, wood ash, and dried blood are added regularly, with limestone tilled in the Fall, if soil ph tests require it. Concentrated fish emulsion is mixed with water and applied by hand to each plant during the growing season. Due to some early blight occurring on our tomatoe and pepper plants, which was spread I believe from water ground splash, I'm thinking drip irrigation may minimize this from happening. I have not yet purchased the inline filter, 3/4" mains and 1/2" laterals, but have received the 3/4" ball valves and electronic water timer/valve I had ordered. The author of a Utah Co-op Extension article on the prototype PVC system (see link), recommends drilling 1/16" holes, in 2-3 hole clusters, spaced to align with individual plants. My plan was to dedicate each lateral to plants with similar needs, with all lateral and major pipe joints being separable to accommodate seasonal rotation and off-season storage. Since I have no experience with this yet, I was waiting for the time when my indoor grown seedlings are about ready for transplanting, before determining hole spacing. Drilling should be easy enough to do when that time comes by setting up a jig. Sorry for being long-winded - many thanks for your encouragement, and system endorsement . . . I feel less like a pioneer now. Best, Steve Here is a link that might be useful: PDF - Designing a Baasic PVC Home Garden Drip Irrigation System

Ewww, thanks for the tip, because that is exactly what I was going to try, bathroom silicone. Although I'm starting to see a workaround. The tubing kit came with connectors that attach to a hose, which I was having a hard time figuring out how to use at first. But the spout fits almost snugly into the tip that is made to attach to the tubing. Since I have a version that connects to the end of a hose and caps it, and a version that connects to both a hose and the tubing, I find that both these parts attach to each other. So I can connect the spout to the end cap version, unscrew the cap, connect that to the hose/tube connector, and attach the tube. This probably doesn't make all that much sense without pics, though, huh? I'll try and put some up once my brain is less tired. The thing that would make this perfect is if the spout could attach just a smidge more snugly without requiring silicone. This way, when it is time to refill, I can turn off the spout, detach the connector so that the whole assembly can remain in place, and just take the container down for refilling. Maybe I will take the spout and the connector to the hardware store to see if I can find a bit of tubing that can serve as an intermediary, as the connector is designed to lock over tubing to be secure. Right now the spout fits within the connector, not over the connector, and therefore cannot be locked into place. Or see if I still have a spare hose clamp around somewhere. I know I got some to repair a dishwasher leak, I just don't know if I got extras. Thanks for the ideas. One of these is bound to work!

Hi Ron - the issues I find with drip systems if buried is that the emitters are easily plugged/blocked by the soil and so quit working. So I'd sure work out a way to keep them on top of the soil as they are intended to be for best results. Otherwise you can end up with minimal if any water to the plants or only a couple getting all the water. Just lay the line aside when hilling the soil and then put it back in place. As for height when covering - minimal. Once the leaves develop low on the stem there will be no stolens formed at that level to make potatoes so you don't want to wait until the plants are more than 6-8" tall. So bury the bare stem as soon as it rises above the soil. The easiest approach I have found over the years is just to bury the whole plant except for the top few leaves as it grows. It pops right back up through the hilled soil and keep on growing. Dave

Best way is to use a Mixrite 571CW injection pump. Hook it right up to your irrigation system after the backflow per instructions. Be sure to buy the 75-11-1 Tip Kit, This will allow you to dilute the concentrated fertilizer with ratios of 750:1, 1000:1, 1500:1, or 2000:1. Works perfectly, and with these low ratios you can leave the injector permanently on and you'll have micro fertigation, which plants really like. Only drawback: Even though the pump is non-electric, it is very loud. I had to build an insulated box around mine. Looks like the links don't take you to the products. Just do a search when you get to the website...