Burying driplines, and feeding around them

[TheWaterbug]

I presently have RainDrip Drip-a-long lines pretty much right on top of my corn seedlings, but now that they're ~6" tall I'm thinking of burying my driplines and putting one on other side of each row.

How deep should I bury them? If the corn seedlings are 6" high and the rows are 18" apart, will their roots be long enough to reach if I bury one drip line in the center, between the rows? (e.g. 9" from each row). The [url=https://www.soilandhealth.org/01aglibrary/010137veg.roots/010137ch2.html]link[/url] from TZ -OH6 in [url=https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=199089#199089]my other thread[/url] shows that corn this tall could have roots as long as 12" from the stalk, laterally, but I still worry

Finally, stuff I've read about corn recommends side dressing a month after planting, and I think I need fertilizer because my corn is not dark green, and it's a bit short for its age. How does one side dress when you have a buried drip line?

Thanks!

[pickupguy07]

good questions.. be interesting to hear some answers...
I guess everyone does it different, but for my garden I wouldn't think about burying any kind of irrigation line...
For me.. at the end of the growing season,.. I'd just have to go back in and take it all out again so I could till the garden when it was done..
If I water.. I just take a regulat garden hose, and let it trickle out slow, and water a row for an hours or so... then move it to the next row.

Just different options I guess??

[BP]

I agree with not burying so you can till after the season. Try a soaker hose instead.

[donworden]

Due to the fact that I till my garden using a roto-beast... I put nothing below the soil line... Something that works very effectively for me is to basically take a hoe or tool like that, and run a mini-ditch parellel to the row of plants about 4 inches from the row... Then in the morning or afternoon I just take the hose with no nozzle and put the end in that little ditch, and fill with water. The water will wick up and moisten the plant row very nicely and effectively. Best of all, there is no splash up of water to the plants.

[TheWaterbug]

Hi, folks, and thanks for the feedback.

I need an automatic drip system because I travel frequently, so moving hoses is not a good solution for me. RainDrip actually recommends burying driplines for two reasons:

1) Reduce evaporative losses
2) Prevent the water from running along the outside of the hose to the lowest local point

Right now I'm just lightly hoeing between the rows, so if I bury the lines deep enough I won't cut them. The drip tubing is pretty robust, too, so unless I hit it with a power tool I'm not likely to damage it.

I have a drawing of the entire garden area that I update when I plant anything or move any hoses, so I'll know where things are when it's time to pull it up.

But I still have questions about when/whether the corn is ready to be side-watered and how to side dress if I can't put water on top of the fertilizer.

[orgoveg]

Maybe use a liquid fertilizer and water it from above a few days later?

[Dillbert]

corn has a shallow and spreading root system - I'd be very uncomfortable digging a ditch next to a row to bury a drip / weeper line.

leave the lines on the surface, cover with mulch. works wonders

I'm an organic bent critter - dehydrated cow flop is my side dressing of choice.

[pickupguy07]

corn has a shallow and spreading root system - I'd be very uncomfortable digging a ditch next to a row to bury a drip / weeper line.

leave the lines on the surface, cover with mulch. works wonders
.

I was gonna say the same thing.. corn (among other things) grow shallow roots, and edging up close to them could disturbe / destroy the roots.

[TheWaterbug]

OK, that makes sense. Covering with mulch sounds like the best solution.

Any opinions on root spread for a 8" corn plant?

Any recommendations for a liquid fertilizer?

[orgoveg]

Any recommendations for a liquid fertilizer?

I don't grow corn (not enough space), so I can't recommend a specific fertilizer for it, but fish emulsion every two weeks works very well for most other crops. Even better is hydrolyzed fish fertilizer.

You can also take granular organic fertilizers such as organic Miracle-Gro (which is not truly organic - just an example) and dissolve it in water. I believe that it comes in liquid form. If not, similar products do.