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San Diego

If you have a 600 sq ft dirt patch and you grow a X tree style plant, how do you water all of the plant? Every vine, main and secondary? By hand would take forever, micro sprinklers or misters won't do it unless you use them a lot. A drip system maybe? Howwould that work. I don't have this type of patch yet, but curious how people do this without spending an hour watering every night. Thanks ,Jim

9/24/2003 12:35:10 AM

Caceres, mid west of Spain

If I had 600 sq ft, I would like they from 30' x 20', more or less. Then the easiest way to irrigate the plant is with a central sprinkler 20' radius, in order to water a little more than the total area covered with vines and leaves, for the roots can go further without a problem.

There are many ways of course. For instance if you can't put any water out of the plant area, I'd choose 6 not circular spray sprinklers (12' radius) surrounding the plant. Each spray sprinkler should get to the base of the next.

If you choose a drip system in San Diego, you will need a misters system as well, in order to refresh.

Carlos

Carlos

9/24/2003 12:51:14 AM

Knopp, Germany

Jim, I watered with a hose by hand sometimes 2 hours in the evening due to the heat we had this summer. Maybe crazy, but I was able to ensure the water was going exactly where I wanted/needed it.

9/24/2003 1:35:16 AM

Ctpumpkin@optonline.net

Above ground allows for misting for temperature control. Good idea in CA.

In the perfect world you would place heads around the perimeter in a patern where the output of each head just reaches each of it's 3 neighbors in a triangulated patern.

To do this I like the simplicity & reliability of fixed spray pop-up heads like the Hunter PS-04 or the old Toro 570. These can be head in several paterns of varying size. So a 15' radius patern nozzle would place each head about 7.5 feet from each other. With all the rain this summer, I got away with just one row right through the middle of the patch this year. But much better would be 2 such rows on either side to fill in the "light areas" at the edges of the heads paterns. Triangulation the heads fixes this entirely.

A bigger patch might benefit from the 30' radius gear driven patch to avoid the need to place them in the growing area.

You might wish to draw the patch in scale on graph paper first.

Steve

9/24/2003 5:58:22 AM

Garden State Pumpkins

I've been thinking about this..Seems to me a drip irrigation might be a good idea. I'm tired of losing leaves prematurely to burn...Whenever I think the sun will stay in for a few hours it busts through. I would love to see how all these growers keep their vines looking so new for so long...This is a great post for discussion again!!

9/24/2003 11:17:33 AM

Cologne / Germany

I did some research on drip irrigation. A porous hose sounds best to me. Gives 0.5 to 1 gal water each 40 inch per hour. It´s a consistent supply whereas drip systems are better to water several plants (like a line of strawberries). When going x tree style, why not burying the hose where you plan to let the vines go - should cover exactly the intended area. After checking the soil moisture for a few days, you should be able to set up a timer for the hose.

After this hot and dry summer we had, I´m fed up with hours of watering my garden, just a waste of good time for family and friends. If you want to be off for a few days or just need to work long, again you have problems. And concerning the mildew problems I had - no more overhead watering for me. Just misting if needed.

9/24/2003 12:09:34 PM

Wood River, Nebraska

I can't remember who's grower diary I was reading, but I remember he was using his misting system to apply fertilizer and pesticides. Did you have any problems plugging the misters? We have very hard water so I'm concerned this alone may create some problems even with a 200 mesh filter. Anyone else doing something like this?
dave=stewee

9/24/2003 12:48:32 PM

Mill Bay, British Columbia

Duster, I used soaker hoses in a circular pattern in the front of the growing path of the plant. First I put the hoses together, put them in a tub to figure out how much water per minute I was getting and then put the hoses in the patch. In the heat of summer I watered for 1 hour every second day and supplemented by hand using a water wand once per week. I fertilized by hand using a hose end sprayer which allowed me to ensure that all areas were done. For foliar feeding I used a spray bottle and that is what took the most time but I found it to be good therapy after long days in the office. Next year I am expanding the garden and will need to add more soaker hoses and I plan on getting a fertilizer injector (www.dripworksusa.com) which can be used for a number of different fertilizer applications. I may even install a few misters that would help me apply the kelp/fish foliar.

9/24/2003 1:43:17 PM

Commack, NY

hey Chuck, i used a drip system this year. I havent gotten it totally figured out yet, so i was forced to suppliment the drip system with overhead watering. I used T-Tape, and it seems to work pretty good. sort of annoying to set up though. One thing you definitly need to know is that the ground must be level. If it isnt the water will gravitate to the low spots.

Scott

9/24/2003 1:55:49 PM

wilmington,ma.

Are the drip systems above ground or covered over.
Also can you fertilize through them?

9/25/2003 3:57:36 PM

Oz

if you look around you can find bubbler fixtures..
and valves.
the sundry store has them cheap.
sundry store-etawaw tennessee

get a sprinkler timer/power supply,if needed.
or a low voltage light power supply.
add a 75 watt rectifier (ac in dc out)if needed.

you can use black soaker hose to connect the bubblers.

use low voltage wire to feed power to heads.
some pop up with water pressure.

9/25/2003 4:57:26 PM

Oz

etawah

9/25/2003 5:02:14 PM

Brillion Wisconsin

Hey Duster, My irrigation system is similar to the "North shore Boyz" with a few differances. First off I run my soaker hoses through out the growing area. I connect the end of the soaker to a 1 into 5 brass manifold with a short length of hose. I also use a soaker hose made for trees, which is nothing more than a soaker hose in a small circle. I put this around the stump of the plant. This also gets its own connection on the manifold. I put a overhead sprayer on a 4 ft post in the middle of the patch for overhead watering and evaporative cooling. Another leg of the manifold gets a length of hose with an extendable wand for hand watering. It works good for watering those section of the buried vine that still seem dry after running the soakers. Its nice to have the 5 separate water valves and have control over what gets watered.


This year I installed a miracle grow feeder in-line with the soaker hoses. I gave my plants a pint of Nep. Harvest through it and just loved it. It worked great and saved alot of time.


As far as foliar feeding, I use a 2 1/2 gallon pump-up hand sprayer. I also use this to apply my fungicides and insecticides.


Next year I plan on Incorporating a watering timer and setting up my soaker hoses on T connections. Instead of hooking them end to end. Good luck Dean o

9/25/2003 6:11:31 PM

Mill Bay, British Columbia

Dean, great idea with the brass manifold! I'll set myself up that way for next year. That way I can have my soaker hoses, water wand, overhead sprinkler and misting system all hooked together and can run the fertilizer injector on whatever application I am using.

Thanks/Glenn

9/25/2003 6:42:17 PM

Key West, FL

I just use overhead lawn or landscape sprinklers. They work fine, you need a pretty high pressure faucet. There are some pictures of mine in my diary. I think I might put some drip hoses beneath the stumps.

9/25/2003 8:33:54 PM

Ctpumpkin@optonline.net

Like Ben's, my sprinkler heads were made for lawn & landscape installations. Between the Melnoe controller & the line running to the patch, I screwed in a Miracle Grow feeder. Just toss 4 oz of 20-20-20 in there, turn on the clock for 12 minutes, & it's empty.
Same thing with the chelated calcium & the seaweed/fish.
No pesticides through it because the dilution rate isn't accurate enough. Though with specialized equipment this is coomon practice in commercial agriculture.

BEWARE. If attempting any such system, have a dual check/reduced pressure backflow preventer installed in front of the system. Devices such as the Febco 825Y are required by code here for all sprinkler systems. For good reason too! Those cheapo check valves found in newer sill cocks are NOT legal equivalents.

Steve

9/25/2003 8:53:00 PM

Oz

use a springloaded flow check valve,,they come in pvc..
but do add a vacume breaker valve,,

9/25/2003 11:25:09 PM

Key West, FL

I run the miracle grow feeder through the system.

Whats a check valve?

9/25/2003 11:57:46 PM

Montoursville, PA

Ben.....Check valves have either a flapper that closes when flow tries to reverse or a ball that closes a tapered opening. They are frequently used to reduce line shock when starting or stopping flow. They all leak! They are not designed to absolutely shut of flow.

Backflow preventers are entirely different in design. They are required by law here in the states. A simple one for a hose bib fixture is not expensive and should not be overlooked by anyone....even if the law has seldom been inforced.

9/26/2003 2:47:23 AM

Ctpumpkin@optonline.net

Fatalities are rare. But a guy in CA accidentally killed himself. He was treating his lawn with DSMA (arsenical herbicide) when a large water user in town turned on during an unscheduled water main repair. The backflow sucked his hose end feeder's contents into the house lines. He didn't notice the empty jar as he went into the house for a glass of water to cool off.

This also happened in Texas more recently but that person lived I think. Trouble is the person was a child if I recall correctly.

Use a real dual check system if you're going to use a hose end sprayer or an irrigation injector. Never mind the law. Do it for your family.

Steve

9/26/2003 7:20:30 AM