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Joliet, IL

Will anyone who has a misting system please
recommend the best misting nozzles and ways to set it up
for a set up attached to a timer and the outside faucet
with standard water pressure from the faucet.

Also include what type of fertilizer injector and where and
how to place it if you also fertigate.

I know there is an article by scott armstrong, but i was
looking for hands on experience with different points of
views from as many different growers using misting set ups.

my patch is like below, please explain where you would put
misters and how many mister heads to buy for a 2000 square
foot patch that is not a straight square.

<------------50'-------------->
` ^
` `
`<-----------------0 `
` `
` `
````````` 50'
` 0 0 `
` : : `
` : : `
` : : `
` : : `
` : : `
` V V v
```````````````````````````````

the "0"s are the planting sites with the direction of the
vines leading pointing with the < or V

any advice is greatly appreciated.

thanks,
jeff

1/6/2004 10:46:10 AM

Joliet, IL

the diagram got screwed up with empty spaces, just imagine
sliding the bottom 2 growing spots over to the right at
equal proportions. basically i have 2 patches together
on the bottom that are each 25' x 25' side by side
and one patch on top of those that is 30' long by 25' wide.
a rectangle on top of 2 squares.

1/6/2004 10:52:27 AM

Joliet, IL

hopefully this looks better with the X's at planting sites
the v or < the direction of vine and the 0's are the boarder
of the patch.


```````<***(30')****>^
```````00000000000000*
```````0````````````0*
```````0`<--------X`0*
```````0````````````0*
```````0````````````0*
00000000````````````0(50')
0```````````````````0*
0````X````````X`````0*
0````.````````.`````0*
0````.````````.`````0*
0````.````````.`````0*
0````.````````.`````0*
0````V````````V`````0*
000000000000000000000v
<*******(50')*******>

1/6/2004 11:10:24 AM

Joliet, IL

damn i suck. well anyways maybe you have an idea with
my second attempt at a drawing, just line up the right edge and you will have the jist.

more important than the location of the heads is the advice
what type of mister heads and set up experience to make it
easy and effiecient.
thanks,
shazzy

1/6/2004 11:14:54 AM

Montoursville, PA

Shazzy.........I used heads from DripWorks, in Calif. You can search them. Mine were installed on overhead soft plastic pipe every six feet checkerboard placement seven feet above the soil level. The piping went in from the edge of the patch six feet and were spaced six feet across. This fills a twenty five foot wide patch with a fine mist.

I was able to operate from the garden hose using a timer inline. I also fed this way using an inline ferts injector also purchased from DripWorks. This really helpped me keep it the way I wanted it to be when we went on vacation.

Actually we used it very little last summer for two reasons. Very few days hot enough to call for it and to much natural rain. I will however install it again this summer. We pulled it out for fall clean up and patch prep.

1/6/2004 12:04:27 PM

Joliet, IL

thanx doc.
this is exactly the type of info i am looking for.
easy set up and take down capabilities and effeciency.
do you think i will be able to cover all three 25' x 25'
patches with mist from just the water pressure from my faucet? what are the most mister heads that can be used with
regular tap water pressure?

and while i am at it, thanx doc for all the info you post
about soil prep, keep up the good work for all those
new growers like myself that thought dirt was just dirt.

1/6/2004 12:49:05 PM

Commack, NY

Jeff........i used i believe 4gph tornado misting heads that i purhcased at dripworks. Decide how high you want to put them, i was using them at 6'. hook them up and see the diameter circle coverage they get, and space accordingingly. Your patch isnt a perfect square, so this might be a good way to figure out placement. dont forget, when the wind blows, you will get some drift, which will make the misters somewhat less effective depending of course on the wind direction. I never hooked my misters up this year due to time constraints, however i used 30% shade cloth in its place and was very pleased with the results. not many hot days this past summer, but there were a few here and there. I was running a mainline down the side instead of the middle of the patch. Either way would work. Just be careful to not trip over the tubing! I've tripped lots of times! LOL
Scott

1/6/2004 1:37:44 PM

South Hill, Virginia

Shaz,

I switched from the tornado mister head to their smallest sprinkler head so I could just water and cool at the same time. I run the mainline down where the main vines will go and then just plug sprinklers in as the plant grows. That way you only water the plant and not all the weeds. I make my sprinklers on tomato stakes like in Scotts article. I think the stakes are about 36 inches.

At the end of the year I just pull out all the sprinklers from the mainline and then all I have to buy the next year is mainline which is dirt cheap.

If you are going to all that trouble then you may as well put a fertilizer injector inline too. I run fertilizer, pesticides and fungicides all through mine and it works great. Once its all set up its a great time saver.

Let me know if you want more details.

1/6/2004 4:11:29 PM

Montoursville, PA

My 3/4 inch PVC rack overhead to cover the patch looked like the results of two drunk monkeys pluming a house of ill repute but it worked fine.

I'm always tinkering with my weak mind. I don't know for sure how I will do it this year. My wheels are turning without firm direction at this hour. I will have a misting system in place...It is to late if one waits for the hot weather to arrive. Is this to be called "adult tinker toys"?

1/6/2004 4:41:36 PM

Montoursville, PA

shazzy........Those folks at Dripworks can answer your pressure and flow questions after you play with design to some degree of firm plan. My guess is that you could do all three patches from one hose source at 30 - 35lbs. They were good with my weak mind. You should read, study and then call for a touch of leadership.

1/6/2004 4:46:00 PM

Ontario, Canada.

Jeff,...Check out my recent diary entries, pictures are included. I believe the size of your three patches may need to be divided into three zones with four heads each to get overlap coverage. I am using a ground based 3/4" pvc tube system with three foot copper riser pipes and Orbit model # 94285 mist nozzles mounted on top. The whole system is removable in the fall for patch prep.

1/6/2004 5:56:56 PM

Indiana

Ok how hot has it got to get to truely need misters?? Also dont the water droplets cause sunburn from magnification of the sun??
Steve

1/6/2004 7:19:32 PM

Montoursville, PA

The how hot does it need to be is a loaded question. Some plants can take it all while others begin wilting from heat stress at 80 degrees. No problem with magnification and such.

1/6/2004 7:34:46 PM

Tipp City, Ohio

I think the sunburn from the sun is an old wives tale. Most likely cause for "sunburn" spots would either be something in the water or from water droplets left on over night and disease setting in. I could be wrong about this and it would not be the first time......Tom

1/6/2004 8:30:48 PM

Montoursville, PA

Tom........you are more right than wrong. Generally misting here in the Northeast is only needed for five minutes out of the hour between 11AM and 4 PM. The misting heads need to be played with as will the time it takes to absolutely wet the surface of the leaf. Adjustment should go down to the point of nearly no runoff. The cooling effect has been effective in my backyard at the five minutes per hour application. This can only be learned by observation. The leaves will tell you what is enough. Try to work with the minimum to avoid raising the humidity and inviting the fungi. Last summer was the dickens to apply misting and stay our of trouble. If you can not watch it and play with it, for a good application, you might be better off without misting.

1/10/2004 9:28:09 AM