Installing an automatic drip irrigation system can reduce the your daily garden maintenance. Learn the basics of drip irrigation in this posting.
This year, I installed a drip irrigation system in my garden. I was interested in setting up the system to reduce the amount of time I spend in the garden each day. In addition, the automatic timer use to control the drip irrigation system gave me the option to set the watering time after sunset when my plants would have plenty of time to absorb the water before the hot daytime sun evaporates it.
After using drip irrigation for one season, I can't believe I lived without it. The system was easy to install and once completed, I didn't have to think twice about watering.
Consider the following.... If it takes you 20 minutes to water your garden each day, over the course of the summer growing season (May-August), you'll spend 40 hours watering your garden. If memory serves me, it took me just 4 hours to install the drip irrigation, so I more than made up for the time invested in setting up the system in the first year.
Low volume drip irrigation systems like the one I used are intended for home gardeners and can be purchased at home and garden centers and hardware stores. You can buy a pre-packaged kit, or buy individual components and assemble your own system.
These home drip systems are nice because they are extremely flexible. You can use them to water containers, traditional beds, raised beds and hanging baskets. You just need to select the right components for each of these planting areas.
The Basic Components of Drip Irrigation:
Water Connection: This is where you connect your drip irrigation system to your main water source -- either an outdoor faucet or an underground sprinkler system. I think most people will want to attach the drip irrigation to a standard faucet, so I'll describe the parts you'll need for this type of connection:
- An automatic timer to turn the water on and off. These connect directly to your hose and are operated using batteries.
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An adapter to connect your hose (generally 3/4 of an inch diameter) to the main line of the drip system (generally 1/2 inch diameter)
And three components to control the strength and flow of the water including:
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An anti-syphon which prevents water from the irrigation system from flowing backward and contaminating the domestic water supply
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A filter to prevent sand or silt from entering and clogging your drip irrigation system,
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A pressure regulator to reduce the pressure from your faucet to the main line of the drip irrigation system. (Drip irrigation systems use low water pressures. If you connect your system directly to the water supply without reducing the pressure, you'll blow-out the drip irrigation tubing and watering devices.
Tubing: Plastic tubing is used to convey water from the faucet connection equipment mentioned above to your garden. You use 1/2 inch tubing to create the main line from the faucet to the garden and also for major branches of your system. There are a variety of components like "T" and elbow fittings to help create the main arteries of the water supply.
You then use 1/4 inch plastic tubing to connect from the main water arteries to various devices that emit water into your garden. The connection between 1/2 and 1/4 inch tubing is made by punching a small hole into the 1/2 inch tube using a special hole punch sold with drip irrigation equipment. You then push a barbed connector in the hole in the 1/2 tubing and insert the other end of the connector into to 1/4 inch tube.
Water Emitters: these are the components that are used to deliver the water to your plants. There are many different types of emitter. Most drip irrigation suppliers provide a manual that will help you choose the right type of emitter for any particular application. However, here's a basic outline of the major types of emitters that you can purchase:
- Drippers - These devices are best for individual upright plants. For example, a dripper is good device to water a tomato plant because it can be positioned at the base of the plant where it will deliver water to the plants roots. They are also great for watering any plants in a container. Drippers are sold with different flow rates, generally 1/2 gallon to 2 gallons per hour. Choose a dripper that makes sense for the water requirements of the individual plants you are watering.
- Sprinklers - Good for closely spaced low growing plants. These too come in various flow rates.
- Drip Tubing - Drip tube is best for long rows of evenly spaced plants like lettuce, beans etc. Available in 1/2 and 1/4 inch diameter sizes, these plastic tubes drip water from holes drilled in the tube at regular intervals. I was able to buy drip tubes with holes spaced every 4 inches and every 8 inches. You can also buy soaker hose drip tube which drips along the entire length of the tube.
Drip Irrigation Layout
The nice thing about drip irrigation is it's flexibility. You can mix and match emitter types running from the same main line and branch systems. For example, in my garden, I run one main line along the length of the garden. In one part of my garden, I have drippers connected to the main line to water tomatoes. In another section of the garden, beans, radishes, corn etc are watered using drip tubing.
By the way, you keep all this tubing in place by pinning it down with metal stakes. These stakes are sold along with the other drip irrigation equipment.
A Flexible System:
I rotate crops from season to season and from year to year. What makes this type of drip irrigation so attractive is that it can be easily modified to each seasons garden plan. Just pick up the metal stakes and move the emitters or drip tube into a different configuration.
If you need to do so, you can easily add additional emitters and drip tubing by punching additional holes in the main line and running the appropriate connections.
Likewise, if you want to remove a section of tubing, just detach it and the barbed connector and seal the resulting hole in the main line using a plastic plug sold for this purpose. It's that easy.
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