Drip Irrigation, Hose it Down, Soaker?

[clutchrider]

I'm looking for the best approach. Last year I simply used a shower head on my hose and sprayed the garden over each night. Not exactly scientific. This year I'm exploring options. My water outlet is in the middle of the house and to get to the garden will most likely require me to run a hose over the driveway to the system.

What is the best route? Do I water in the morning, afternoon, night? Use a soaker hose instead or pickup a Drip Starter Kit. And if I do, am I ok just hooking it up and running it at only certain times of the day?

Sorry irrigation is new to me so I want to be sure the garden is getting proper water and not too much or too little.

[southerncomfort]

I am exploring drip myself. I have a high pressure pump from a water hole so I have plenty of water ... I just like to conserve.

While using a sprinkler, I would water early in the morning so can be absorbed before sun bears down to hard. Plants will be dry at night to avoid fungus.

Our extension office recommendation is 1 inch of water per week. That will get it to the roots and encourage deeper root growth.

[clutchrider]

Thanks for the intel. An update on what I just did during my lunch. I went to the local industrial park and found a place John Deere Landscapes. Great little warehouse spot and talked to a very knowledgeable fellow. After explaining my desire and my novice level of information on the topic he directed me to a great and easy setup that will last for years and cost me under $100. The breakdown.

-Hose Adapter
-3/4" Male Adapter
-End Cap Barb (with release valve for drainage/overflow)
-250ft. Dripline

The dripline is pretty impressive. It's meant for gardens and mulch areas and can be laid on top of the ground or buried just beneath the surface. Flow rate is 1 gallon per hour and controlled by these little self adjuster things that lie inside the hose and ensure even pressure throughout the system. Then the drip holes every so many inches.

He said I could just lay it around the garden about 8-10" apart and that the line should cover more than enough of my needs. All total I spent $76. Not bad considering I was looking at smaller starter kits that ran $60 or more and did not cover the right amount of area.

[TheWaterbug]

I put in a drip system with a few timers last year, and I'll never go back to sprinklers or any kind of hand watering. My row crops were on inline dripper hoses, and the tomatoes, pumpkins, et al. were on individual drippers. I was really happy with it.

I set the timers to run in the early morning.

Avoiding sprinklers also helped cut down on the weeds, since I put water only where I wanted to. We get almost no natural rain during the growing season, so anywhere I don't water gets no weeds!

The one thing I haven't figured out is how to fertilize with the drippers. Anyone know of a good inline fertilizing system that I can I just put in series with the hose when I need to feed?

[GEOSAN]

You might want to consider a pressure regulation device , 25#, as well as an inline filter so as not to blowout your connections or block your emitters. Drip Deot has some good information on drip irregation.

[Brant]

Drip irrigation is the way to go! Get some drip line and a timer and it will never cross your mind again. I love it because I am usually traveling on the weekends and with my setup it is not different than if I were there. I have used drip lines for three years now without any problems.

[SOB]

I am also a novice to irrigation and had a few concerns with drip irrigation. My main concern is how the garden changes every year - meaning the tomatoes, onions, etc. aren't always in the same place. With drip irrigation it sounds like you need to set it up differently every year so that there is a single emitter by your tomato, multiple emitters along your row of onions, etc. Is this this case? If so how easy is it to redo the setup every year? Would it be better to lay down soaker hoses and wet the entire garden?

Not sure if it changes anything but I plan on laying straw on top of the garden and whatever irrigation system I install.

[Brant]

I don't use separate emitters for my tomatoes and peppers, I just lay it out so that the whole garden gets wet (about 2 ft between lines). You might have to change it up year to year if you change the layout of your garden, but it will be one of the lower levels of effort required - compared to starting seeds, transplanting, and amending soil it is basically effortless. All you have to do unroll the line and plug the end.

I actually replace mine every year anyway to discourage mineral deposit buildup. A 100 ft section is only $15 at Home Depot and that was more than enough for my garden.

Mulch and hay will help keep it hydrated better, but eventually weeds will start growing, and when they do it will be harder to control them than if the soil is exposed. Just depends on your preference I guess. I always mulched in the past, but this year I am trying it without mulch and so far I like it better.

[soil]

i prefer overhead irrigation because its effects benefit my farming style best.

in my experiences drip irrigation attracts gophers and causes leeching along with sometimes poor root systems.

another benefit of overhead is very few pipes, tubes, emitters, sprayers, timers, and all that crap to deal with.

[TheWaterbug]

in my experiences drip irrigation attracts gophers and causes leeching along with sometimes poor root systems.

Gophers!!!!!!! Grrrr.