Irrigation systems in veggie gardens

[Handsomeryan]

Before I posted I tried to use the search function to see if this topic already existed. I couldn't get the search to look only at thread titles and so all my searches brought up hundreds of unrelated threads where irrigation was mentioned somewhere in the comments.

What do you use to irrigate your vegetable garden?

I live in a rented house and my landlord (who also happens to be my next-door neighbor) was kind enough to loan me his rotary plow and tiller to make a garden bed out back. There is a hose spigot not far from the garden and currently I just attach a hose to it and manually water the garden. I'm considering putting in a drip system to be faster, easier, and more water efficient. Since it's a rented house and I don't know how long Ill live here I hate to make a huge investment in a system set up just for this garden but OTOH, building a system looks like it could be fun. Based on a quick-n-dirty calculation for what I'd need to set up the system the way I'd like I think I'd be in it for about $60-75 and at least 70% of those "parts" could be recycled into a new system if my living situation changes.

I guess I have 2 main things I'm interested in here:

◘ What do you do currently for watering your garden?

◘ If you currently have some type of irrigation system in place (sprinkler, drip, etc.) tell me about it. Extra credit will be awarded for posting pictures as well.

[tomf]

I use a drip system. I have a timer to turn it on at set times. I then have a set of valves at different places in the garden so that I can control what gets watered. I have connectors so that I can customize the set up each year, each connector also has a valve before it.
I find this system to be the most efficient in water usage and my time.Plus I do not water where the crops are not thus cutting down on weeding.

This is the filter and timer.
[img]https://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e57/twistedtomf/garden_DSC0027.jpg[/img]
You can see the main lines in the photo of the berry patch, drip plugs water each plant.
[img]https://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e57/twistedtomf/_DSC0078.jpg[/img]
I have drip line and drip plugs through out the garden. I place them in after tilling and setting up beds. I burry the main lines under the paths so as not to walk over them.
[img]https://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e57/twistedtomf/_DSC0051.jpg[/img]

[tomf]

How about soaker hoses? You could easily set up a multiple nozzle on your garden hose and attach soaker hoses, which can be moved when the crop is harvested or a new one is put in. I've seen the nozzles with four outlets, there may be ones with more.
You could take the entire set-up with you when you move.

I used them at my last house and the worked fine.

[Arriga]

I work in Germantown and live in Charles Town. Check out dripworks.com

[orgoveg]

I do it the same way you do now and I always have (manually with a garden hose). I've considered irrigation systems many times, but I always decide against it.

I'm just thinking out loud here and bear in mind that my garden is only 55' x 5'. My plants are placed in entirely different spots from year-to-year as I rotate my crops. Most of my perennial herbs don't require (or want) supplemental watering beyond what mother nature provides. There are also annual crops like that. I cannot think of a design for a permanent system to water each plant exactly where it is needed. Even if I could set it up just right, I would have to do it all over again the following season. I also do second or third plantings with bush beans, etc. and I do fall crops after clearing some of the finished summer crop. That would also require alot of tweaking. Then, when I go to loosen the soil every year, I've got to remove the system and put it back.

I cannot see how any system would be faster and easier in the long run. It may well be that I am ignorant of a simple system that would suit me perfectly. For now, I use a quality brass nozzle with my hose which has adjustments for both flow and spray pattern. I've broken so many fancy spray attachments over the years (or just found them leaky and useless). It takes up time, but there are no headaches involved.

Of course, I realize that it would not be practical to water a larger garden this way. For that, I would probably use an oscillating sprinkler on a small tower.

[shadowsmom]

I started using a non-permanent irrigation system 3 years ago and I love it. It's just a main tube from which you add on small tubing and the sort of water thingy (drip/little sprinkler) you want and where you want it. Everything is movable, so if you need more/less water somewhere you can adjust. When the garden is done for the season I pack it up and put it away. It's really saved me a ton of time and everything is better watered.

[jal_ut]

In the arid West, there are no veggie gardens without irrigation.
Some areas use the culinary system for irrigation. That can get expensive since it is metered and you pay by the 1000 gallons.

Where I live I am fortunate that we have a separate irrigation system. The water comes in a pipe and is gravity fed to a pressure of around 40 psi. Rainbirds are the method of choice for applying the water, whether around the house or on the large acreages.

I have a couple of Rainbirds on stands that can be set to spot water any area that needs it. I have a hose bib hooked to the irrigation system and just use garden hose to run them. This could be used even if you must use culinary water.

[orgoveg]

Shadowsmom - Any chance you can post photos or more detail about your system?

[shadowsmom]

Shadowsmom - Any chance you can post photos or more detail about your system?

Sure, but it won't be right away. I'm on the road for work.

I have the Rain Drip Micro Sprayer System. This isn't it exactly, but it's close. [url=https://www.amazon.com/Raindrip-R530DP-Drip-Landscape-Kit/dp/B0000DI83K/?_encoding=UTF8&tag=thehelpfulgar-20&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=9325]https://www.amazon.com/Raindrip-R530DP-Drip-Landscape-Kit/dp/B0000DI83K/[/url]

I don't use a drip system - tried previously - because it takes too long to water. I can't use a timer because I'm using the water supply from the barn, and due to a leak underground, I have to completely turn the water off after I'm done.

[tedln]

Ditto on Toms system except I leave everything in place all the time and use soaker hoses. I want the water going into the soil without getting the plants wet. I also have a drip system set up to water some pots and put some water into my compost pile where I am trying to grow some cucumbers.

Ted

[orgoveg]

Sure, but it won't be right away. I'm on the road for work.

I have the Rain Drip Micro Sprayer System. This isn't it exactly, but it's close. [url=https://www.amazon.com/Raindrip-R530DP-Drip-Landscape-Kit/dp/B0000DI83K/?_encoding=UTF8&tag=thehelpfulgar-20&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=9325]https://www.amazon.com/Raindrip-R530DP-Drip-Landscape-Kit/dp/B0000DI83K/[/url]

I don't use a drip system - tried previously - because it takes too long to water. I can't use a timer because I'm using the water supply from the barn, and due to a leak underground, I have to completely turn the water off after I'm done.

Okay, it looks like you're using a precision targeted overhead sprinkler system. That does seem ideal, except you have to get the plants wet. I'd like to avoid that, since I can

Thanks alot.

[soil]

I'm with jal_ut. I hate drippers and such. rainbirds mimic rain.

[shadowsmom]

Sure, but it won't be right away. I'm on the road for work.

I have the Rain Drip Micro Sprayer System. This isn't it exactly, but it's close. [url=https://www.amazon.com/Raindrip-R530DP-Drip-Landscape-Kit/dp/B0000DI83K/?_encoding=UTF8&tag=thehelpfulgar-20&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=9325]https://www.amazon.com/Raindrip-R530DP-Drip-Landscape-Kit/dp/B0000DI83K/ref=sr_1_6[/url]

I don't use a drip system - tried previously - because it takes too long to water. I can't use a timer because I'm using the water supply from the barn, and due to a leak underground, I have to completely turn the water off after I'm done.

Okay, it looks like you're using a precision targeted overhead sprinkler system. That does seem ideal, except you have to get the plants wet. I'd like to avoid that, since I can

Thanks alot.

Mine isn't really overhead - The sprinklers sit up about 3 inches after I stick them in the ground. I don't like overhead watering either.

[TheWaterbug]

I'm no expert on this, but I set up a RainDrip system with 1/2" main tubing and 1/4" distribution tubing and flag drippers for 30 pumpkin plants last year, and it worked very well. Watering by hand would have taken more than 2 hours and wetted the leaves.

I expanded the system for this year, and now I have RainDrip "Drip-a-long" tubing watering my corn (1/2" size) and my smaller vegetables (1/4" size). The corn has only been in for 5-6 weeks and the carrots/broccoli/cauliflower for 10 days. But the corn is alive, and the broccoli &c just sprouted, so it appears to be working.

I hatehatehate the RainDrip compression fittings (they're impossible to remove for reconfiguration) so [url=https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=200284#200284]DoubleDogFarm recommended[/url] the RainDrip-compatible fittings from DripWorks.

[malkore]

I'd like to do a drip setup someday...someday.

Right now I just have a basic brass sprinkler on a metal tripod...got the whole thing at Lowe's last year.

I put a simple mechanical water timer on the hose so I can just hit it and if I forget the spigot, I'm not wasting water or soaking the veggies.

I have fairly narrow paths so I'm not wasting too much water in between the 4 beds, and it even gets the herbs on the outside damp.

Last year I used rain barrels and two watering cans, but even at two beds it was a bit brutal. With 4 beds I knew I wouldn't be able to keep up so we just have one barrel this year, for watering some flower beds.

[TheWaterbug]

I'm no expert on this, but I set up a RainDrip system with 1/2" main tubing and 1/4" distribution tubing and flag drippers for 30 pumpkin plants last year

I should add that I ran this off a Vigoro single-zone timer that worked, but that I really didn't like because the timer/clock shows just the hour, with no minutes display. It also has a max watering time of 2 hrs and a max interval of 4 days.

This year I added an [url=https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003BRRD18]Orbit 2-zone timer[/url] that I like a lot better. It has a 3rd outlet that's just a manual pass-through, and the timer/clock has minute granularity. It can water for up to 4 hours, and the interval can be from minutes up to a week. So it's a way more flexible.

The only thing I don't like about the Orbit unit is that there's no manual on/off for the timer stations. I would only use this very occasionally, such as for leak-testing during setup, but as it is now I have to reprogram the time-of-day for 1 minute before watering time, wait a minute, turn it off, fiddle with my fittings, lather, rinse, and repeat.

[orgoveg]

Mine isn't really overhead - The sprinklers sit up about 3 inches after I stick them in the ground. I don't like overhead watering either.

In that case, I would love to see more about your system (if you get a chance).

[shadowsmom]

This should give you an idea of what it looks like. The sprinklers are tiny and you can shove them in a far as you want and move them around during the season if you need to. They are also slightly adjustable with a turn.

[img]https://i795.photobucket.com/albums/yy236/allminemike/kale.jpg[/img]

[img]https://i795.photobucket.com/albums/yy236/allminemike/cucs.jpg[/img]

[img]https://i795.photobucket.com/albums/yy236/allminemike/compost.jpg[/img]

I have about a 4' gap between these 2 beds and I just run the tube across.

I hope this gave you some idea. I didn't add the tomato pics because they didn't show anything.

[orgoveg]

Thanks, shadowsmom. I have to say that does look very useful and it's not expensive. I could probably get a kit to experiment with and add more if I like it.

[shadowsmom]

Thanks, shadowsmom. I have to say that does look very useful and it's not expensive. I could probably get a kit to experiment with and add more if I like it.

It's easy to set up also - I did it myself and that's saying something.

I bought it late in the season the first year and it was a little difficult to set up through the jungle of plants, but it's flexible enough to maneuver around. It's a lot easier to install when the plants are small.

I've bought some additional parts but not much. I'm hanging on to that web site mentioned above - thanks!

[Handsomeryan]

I work in Germantown

I work in Shady Grove. If you want to grab lunch sometime let me know.

[TheWaterbug]

I expanded the system for this year, and now I have RainDrip "Drip-a-long" tubing watering my corn (1/2" size) and my smaller vegetables (1/4" size). The corn has only been in for 5-6 weeks and the carrots/broccoli/cauliflower for 10 days. But the corn is alive, and the broccoli &c just sprouted, so it appears to be working.

Actually I'm a dirty, filthy liar, and an infant corn abuser as well.

My corn hasn't been growing as I'd expected it to, so I went to increase the watering time this morning. It was currently set to 0 minutes.

So I haven't been watering it at all since I last reconfigured the watering station, which is probably 10 days ago. Le sigh. It's a good thing it just hasn't been that hot lately. I'd also been over-watering it the week before that, when I was out of town, so there was probably lots of water in the ground already.

I guess this just goes to show that 1) Nature builds its plants pretty hardily, 2) You should check everything twice before you walk away.

[rootsy]

Before I posted I tried to use the search function to see if this topic already existed. I couldn't get the search to look only at thread titles and so all my searches brought up hundreds of unrelated threads where irrigation was mentioned somewhere in the comments.

What do you use to irrigate your vegetable garden?

I live in a rented house and my landlord (who also happens to be my next-door neighbor) was kind enough to loan me his rotary plow and tiller to make a garden bed out back. There is a hose spigot not far from the garden and currently I just attach a hose to it and manually water the garden. I'm considering putting in a drip system to be faster, easier, and more water efficient. Since it's a rented house and I don't know how long Ill live here I hate to make a huge investment in a system set up just for this garden but OTOH, building a system looks like it could be fun. Based on a quick-n-dirty calculation for what I'd need to set up the system the way I'd like I think I'd be in it for about $60-75 and at least 70% of those "parts" could be recycled into a new system if my living situation changes.

I guess I have 2 main things I'm interested in here:

◘ What do you do currently for watering your garden?

◘ If you currently have some type of irrigation system in place (sprinkler, drip, etc.) tell me about it. Extra credit will be awarded for posting pictures as well.

I plant most of my non-root vegetables on plastic and with that I run a 15 mil T-tape beneath which is all put down at once by the mulch layer. I run a header pipe and connect the T-Tape runs and it all runs to a point near a spigot and gets a filter, anti-siphon valve and a pressure reducer. I then simply run a short piece of hose from the bib to the back flow valve.

The T-tape I use has emitters @ 12" spacing and puts out .22 gallons / 100 feet of tape / minute.

Everything comes from Irrigation Direct out of California and over a certain amount shipping is free.

None of it is "cheap" but I leave it in place for a number of years and rotate crops on the plastic.

I use the high flow fittings even though my t-tape is technically low flow, this way I know I have no roadblock.

[Handsomeryan]

Some nice systems here; thanks for sharing all the info and pics.

I think Ive done this the wrong way and I should have been thinking about all this before I planted my garden. With the cages and tomatoes already escaping them all over the place I think it will be hard to install the system I really want into the existing garden. Maybe I'll wait and plan better for next year.

[TheWaterbug]

I think Ive done this the wrong way and I should have been thinking about all this before I planted my garden. With the cages and tomatoes already escaping them all over the place I think it will be hard to install the system I really want into the existing garden. Maybe I'll wait and plan better for next year.

I put my system in after the fact last year, and it worked fine. I actually did some of the same this year as well, because I never know exactly where anything's going to end up until it's actually in the ground.

So I wouldn't worry about kludging things a bit or making it less "neat" than you'd prefer; I'd just put some stuff in and try it out. At least you'll make most of your beginner mistakes on a smaller scale this year. Most systems are reconfigurable, too, so few mistakes are permanent.

If I always waited until I'd planned better I'd never had done anything at all!

[Lex]

I've got a system of soaker hoses hooked up to a set of two-way hose splitters. The main hose is hooked up to a mechanical hose timer... I swear, that thing is worth at least twice its price! It's very convenient to be able to set it to a specific amount of time and forget about it, rather than remembering 3 hours later that I've potentially just drowned my garden.

Last year, I just hooked all of my soaker hoses up in parallel, but the final length of it definitely got much less water than the first part. I had to really soak my tomatoes to get any water at all to my broccoli. This year, I used Y-splitters to fork the water off into 4 different sections, and each one has either 1 or 2 hoses. I jiggered with the valves on the splitters until everything balanced out nicely, so everything gets an even watering. Whereas last year, I had to turn the spigot on only a bit to avoid overwatering, this year I have many more plants and hoses, and turning the spigot on to full pressure still only results in a slow trickle (which is great for deep watering).

Last year, I used the kind of soaker hose that's a relatively thick, porous-feeling rubbery texture (like [url=https://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1v/R-202563798/h_d2/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053]this[/url]). I had a heck of a time getting them to lay flat, because they seemed to want to go back to being coiled up like they were at the store, even though I was careful to avoid twisting them as I uncoiled them. The package's advice to leave them in the sun to soften them was useless.

This year, I'm using only one of those, and the rest are a new kind that's got a fabric outer layer and what I assume is rubber on the inside ([url=https://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1v/R-202522698/h_d2/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053]this one[/url]). I can't recommend these enough. They're incredibly easy to lay out in exactly the way I want, and they soak nice and evenly.

Of course, with the weather we've had in Massachusetts, I'm beginning to wonder why I even bothered with irrigation... my seeds keep rotting in the soil, with all this rain.