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Post by daylilydude on Feb 5, 2017 5:34:53 GMT -5
Which is the best size tubing to use 1/4" or 1/2" in a in-ground garden?
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Post by pepperhead212 on Feb 5, 2017 9:56:04 GMT -5
I use the 1/2" the most, but both have their uses. I run strips of 1/2" the length of the rows, with emitters inserted wherever the plants are, but sometimes the plants are on both sides of the line, as when I run my double row of peppers, zig zagged about 8" on both sides. In those cases I take a T-fitting, and run a 1/4" line to both sides, with the emitters on those.
I have seen different limitations listed on the use of 1/4" line - some say no longer than a 30 ft line, and there is a limited gph to all tubing. You will doubtfully reach tje limit on 1/2", but you have to be careful with 1/4". However, using 23 emitters with 19 gph total along a front flowerbed, with 1/4" run along the back, then around to the front, I have had no problem with the output of the emitters, even at the end of the line. And this runs off of a 1/2" line, coming from the back, at one of the timers.
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Post by Laura_in_FL on Feb 5, 2017 12:02:28 GMT -5
I second what pepperhead212 said. I use 1/2" line to get from faucet to garden and for long runs within the garden. I run short stretches of 1/4" line off that to individual rows, containers, or plant rows. I also buried the 1/2" line where it crosses the yard. I only buried it a few inches deep, just enough to protect it from feet, wheelbarrow wheels, and lawnmower blades. You can also buy 1/4" line with perforations in it either every 12" or 6". The perforations allow a steady, slow drip of water to come out of the line. The line with 12" perforations would be good for an in-ground garden with bigger plants that need a foot or so of space in the row, like corn or okra - just run a 1/4" perforated line along each row and plant a seed beside each perforation. That way water only goes to the plants, nowhere else. That assumes that your rows aren't too long. If you want to do rows more than 30' long I'd test it to make sure you have enough pressure to get good flow at the far end of the row. If you have really long rows you might need to use 1/2" line down each row, with emitters every foot. Also, if you are doing double, triple, or quad rows, you might need to use the 1/2" line (with higher gph emitters) to get enough flow for all of the plants. In my raised beds I use the perforated lines that have perforations every 6". I plant a lot of closely-spaced plants like lettuce, carrots, radishes, garlic, etc., in those beds, so buying a bunch of emitters would be expensive and time-consuming to set up. I have the 1/4" lines laid about 6" apart, so I get complete coverage even with my sandy soil. Plus, when I mulch the bed, I lay the mulch right over the 1/4" lines and then have almost no dirt splash onto the plants when it rains. This makes for much cleaner lettuce. So the set up in my raised beds looks like this (drawing not to scale): ll edge of raised bedll lots of small plantsll -x--x--x--x--x--x--0 ll lots of small plantsll --x--x--x--x--x--x-0 ll lots of small plantsll -x--x--x--x--x--x--0 ll lots of small plantsll --x--x--x--x--x--x--0 ll lots of small plantsll edge of bedll = 1/2" supply line -- = 1/4" perforated line x = location of perforations 0 = goof plug (seals off the end of line) I was worried about how the drip line would hold up being in the sun 365 days a year, but I installed mine in 2012 and it has not needed any repairs except for a few spots where a critter has taken a curious nibble. However, you need to think about weeding. Hoes and other tools can puncture drip lines. I weed by hand in my raised beds, so that's not a problem for me. But for an in-ground row garden you probably don't want to hand-weed. One solution is to put plastic (or some other kind of) mulch on top the drip lines. Then you should hopefully only need to weed between rows, and you won't accidentally cut your drip lines.
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Post by daylilydude on Feb 5, 2017 17:21:09 GMT -5
With the different emitters is there a certain amount of time for them to be running, and if so, what amount is needed for like tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and the like??
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Post by Laura_in_FL on Feb 6, 2017 9:50:46 GMT -5
You're going to have to experiment to find that out in your own garden, because that's going to vary depending on temperature, humidity, and your soil conditions. For example, I might run mine 30 minutes once or twice a week in the cool season, but every other day for 45 minutes when we have a summer dry spell.
The trick is getting the right size emitters for each plant type (use higher gph emitters for bigger, thirstier plants), so that all of the plants on the irrigation circuit get enough water in roughly the same amount of time. That way you don't waste a lot of water over-watering some sections of the garden while you're waiting for other areas to get enough water. That again will take some experimenting, but it's not that hard to add more emitters or change to different capacity emitters to balance things.
I do recommend getting a timer, though. That way even if you get busy and forget, your garden gets watered. Most of the modern timers have a rain delay, so if rain is forecast/has started you just push the rain delay button to hold off on watering without losing all of your timer settings. Once the rain is over, press the rain delay button again to resume your watering schedule.
For a big garden you might need to set up more than one irrigation circuit. But there are multi-circuit timers out there which allow you to set up a different watering schedule for each circuit. So that's handy.
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