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Phoenix, AZ

I am using soaker hose right now in my patch for my cover crop. It is working well from what I can tell but I can also see that I cannot trust it to get water outside of about 4" from where the hose lays - even at a depth of 6" I see this phenomenon. I understand that the soil will absorb the water beyond the hose but I am not getting a clear picture of how far apart to space my hose.

I have seen other installs where people space their hoses 1 ft or more away from each other. Do we really expect good coverage at such distance?

7/13/2006 10:20:59 PM

Montoursville, PA

Ben..........spacing is an individual patch jock stap management challenge. How far the water will ooze away from the source has to do with the soil organic and clay content.

In my patch with 15% OM and moderate clay content the ooze or spred is nine inches so my T-Tapes can safely be eighteen inches apart. The debth easily kept nicely damp has to do with the gallons delivered. I get nice moisture at nine inches or more deep into the soil.

The company wanted twelve inche spacing, but they were definately not experienced with 15% OM. Their advisement was, for maybe 5% OM.

Hope this helps you a bit.

7/14/2006 4:33:46 PM