Irrigation thread.

[Worth1]

Per Suze's request to discuss irrigation here in the general discussion section of Tomatoville
I will now start a thread here.
To start off I would like to ask folks what they use to water their Tomatoes.

Soaker hoses?
Hand water?
Canals as we used to do?
Do you have timers/controllers to turn on and shut off the water?
Do you mulch to cut back on weeds and conserve water?

I wont get into yard watering and such here as I believe that this area should be for gardening tomatoes.

If and a big if, the powers that be decide to have an irrigation thread or sticky then I will post on that (yards and shrubs) sort of thing there.

Thank you.

Worth.

[Zana]

I water with hose and by hand...depending upon whether the container garden in the driveway or the deck off the back of the townhouse.

My garden is comprised of 4' X 8' raised beds with each holding four to six tomato plants plus assorted other vegetables. Each bed is watered with a 25' soaker hose of 1/2" diameter. Since the hoses seem to only be available in 50' lengths, I cut them into two hoses of 25' each and install new hose fittings on them. Each hose is rated to emit 2.5 gallons of water per foot of length per hour at 60 psi water pressure. That water rate is approximately 1.4 gallons per hose, per minute or seven gallons of water for a five minute watering cycle. Each bed is connected to a buried central pvc pipe with a shut off valve at each hose connection. The central line then connects to the main water supply with a single battery powered timer/valve.

I set the timer to only water five minutes in the morning each day in the middle of spring when the temperatures are moderate. When the temperatures exceed ninety degrees, I set the timer to water both morning and late afternoon. If the plants begin showing stress due to insufficient water, I increase the watering cycles by a few minutes each.

Since vegetation size and density determines moisture requirements in each bed, I regulate the volume availability by installing different sized flow discs ahead of each hose purchased from sites like this http://www.mrdrip.com/flowdisc.htm.

As fall approaches, I reduce the cycle time and I always shut the system off after significant rainfalls.

When I started growing some dwarf tomato varieties in pots, I added a 1/4" drip system to the same timer for each pot with adjustable drip emitters to regulate the flow.

A single nine volt battery powers the timer all summer.

I maintain a high organic content in my soil to expedite dispersal of moisture from the hoses throughout the beds. Since my beds are entirely shaded by vegetation, I do not add any mulch over the soil and hoses. Sometimes I bury the soakers about one inch deep.

Ted

[SEAMSFASTER]

In 2011 I grew about 300 tomato plants in 7 double rows at my sister's property. We had water rights to irrigate on Thursdays. We had a record-setting snow pack in the mountains and rain in the Spring, so there were no restrictions on how much water I could use. If anything, they got too much water, as I had some problems with fruit cracking.

I prepared 30" wide walking paths between the double rows and covered them with wood chips. Weeds were an issue, but not so bad, considering I used seed-laden canal water.

I guess the pic (taken 7-09-2011) does show a few weeds...

[recruiterg]

I water by hand.

I'd like someone to give a tutorial on how to set up a basic automatic watering system for raised beds. I'm looking for ideas that are cheap to implement, easy to install, re-usable year to year.

[clkeiper]

We grow for farmers markets, so we do grow more than a normal garden to supply it. This year we decided to install drip irrigation. we purchased an injector that we can siphon from a bucket for fertilizer and everything is planted under black plastic mulch. That said, it was the year we didn't really need to ever water the garden. the only place that regularly needed water was the high tunnels. But the fertilizer was an important aspect of need, since the over abundance of rain was leaching all the nutrients out of the surface layer of the soil.

Recruiterg,

In my opinion, the drip irrigation system is the best method because you can deliver the exact amount of water to each plant you feel it needs. It is also the least expensive to install requiring very little knowledge or skill. You only need the tubing, fittings, and drip emitters. You can choose to turn the valve on when you want to, or use a timer for an extra $30.00. You can also purchase drip system kits on the internet with installation instructions included.

I don't use the drip system except in pots because I grow so many different things in my beds over a season, I would be changing my system constantly.

The method I use as described in my post, is for me; the easiest to use, but the most difficult to install. The difficult part for me was burying the pvc water pipe to each bed. The cost of the PVC system was about $150.00 plus the cost of one timer. The pipe and soaker hose were the lowest expense. The fittings to change directions and the valves at each bed were the greatest expense. It would be difficult for someone to detail all the steps required to install a system because everyone's garden is arranged differently.

In communities where you purchase water by the gallon or per 100 or 1000 gallons, watering gardens can be very expensive. We once lived in a community where it added about $100.00 per month to our summer water bill.

Where we live now, we have a well and the only cost for the water is the electricity to pump it. It probably only costs $5.00 per month.

Ted

[PaulF]

I have always laid down soaker hoses when I plant, but that puts water all along the hose rather than at the plant. I also rotate every year so the drip system would be a pain. I would love to install a drip system, but would have to rearrange every year.

My mulch system is several layers of news print with straw on top. I does a fairly good job for me. The last couple of years there has been no need to water since we have been going through a wet spell. Drought is already in the forecast for next year.

My only water source is city water. Payback for digging a well would be extremely long term; in the neighborhood of 75 years.

[clkeiper]

We installed the drip system using emitter tape. We also will have to reassemble this everyyear to fit however we lay out the garden. Just part of the convenience of the steady flow to the plants. The tape does not water more at one end of it than the other. the emitters only release water when there is 11#'s of water pressure in the line, therefore watering everything at the same rate from one end to the other of the line. We throw away the tape and replace it in the spring, we just recycle the fittings from it. It probably could be recycled also, but for us it is economical to toss and replace since we sell what is produced in the garden.

We used soaker hoses and sprinkler hoses but found that both tended to erupt and overwater in places underwater in others. Both of these hoses probably should have had a pressure reducer on them to prevent this, but for the size we are now watering the drip system works better for us.

[ddsack]

I have two garden areas, the front has twelve raised beds of 12' x 4' and the back, more shady area has an assortment of eleven 8' x 4' as well as six more 12' x 4' beds. I water by hand with a hose, or dip from large tubs of water set around the gardening areas. Our well water is extremely cold, even in the summer. So in the early summer while the tomato and pepper plants are small, I like to use sun-warmed water when possible to reduce cold shock to the roots.

For some years, I ran a pump from the lake for irrigation, but after near constant monkeying with pump repairs and maintenance, my husband decided it was more trouble than it was worth. I might have kept using it if I had any mechanical aptitude myself, but admit it was hard to filter out all the small lakeweed particles and algae and suspended sand which would eventually jam up sprinkler heads and pump parts.

Our house is old, and has only one outdoor faucet. I need about 200 feet of hose just to get to the front garden, almost as much for the back garden. Since I am the only one in the family that enjoys gardening and it's a hobby, not a money making enterprise, it would not be cost effective to put in many yards of drip line to service the 29 raised beds, and given the distance from the house, I'm not sure our water pressure would be good enough unless the pump ran day and night. I water selectively - very often for lettuce and cucumbers, fairly often for onions, broccoli, beans, less often for tomatoes and peppers. I really don't mind soaking soil by hand because I know for sure how much water each area is getting. I'm sure hand watering would be very tedious for many people, but I kind of enjoy it. I get lots of time to inspect plants more closely and see daily progress or catch problems early. In my experience, the more complicated a system is, the more chance that something will always jam or break down and have to be fixed. Some people enjoy trouble shooting or maintenance, but I'm not one of them. Just give me a hose with a sprinkler wand and I'm happy.

[Dewayne mater]

The new bed I've made I've set up to use soaker hoses in rows (4) and they will water when I water that section of the suburban yard on automated sprinkler system. It is on its own zone, so, I should be able to increase and decrease times as needed to give it moisture as needed. I note that Howard Garrett, the self styled Dirt Doctor is against drip irrigation, having previously supported it. http://www.dirtdoctor.com/Drip-Irrig...ter_vq3889.htm

Basically, he says plants like to be watered from above and drip irrigation isn't consistent. While that may be true, tomato plants get increased disease when watered from above, at least they do at my place. We shall see what the new system delivers this spring.

[Delizzy]

Originally Posted by Dewayne mater

...I note that Howard Garrett, the self styled Dirt Doctor is against drip irrigation, having previously supported it. http://www.dirtdoctor.com/Drip-Irrig...ter_vq3889.htm

Originally Posted by Dewayne mater

Basically, he says plants like to be watered from above and drip irrigation isn't consistent....

From Drip Irrigation - The Wrong Choice Newsletter @ the link given above by Dewayne mater:

Q: Not a fan of drip irrigation? Why? I am confused. I was under the impression that it was the most efficient watering method.

A: In my opinion, drip irrigation works in one situation – row crops where there are emitters at the bases of plants.

Dr. Dirt does say drip irrigation works well for row crops (most of what we plant in gardens, right?) I find it ideal for my garden.

I used soaker hoses for a few years but switched to drip irrigation over a period of 3 years. Last year my garden was 100% drip irrigation. I find it uses less water than the soaker hoses, and soil moisture for each plant was more consistent, and the garden was more accessible because the paths between rows stayed drier. To me the tomatoes and peppers appeared to be happier because the water flow at each dripper was consistent (I use 1 GPH pressure compensating drippers).

With soaker hoses, I had a complicated system of splitters and valves to equalize the soaking rate as each hose was different, and there were even variations in sections of the same hose.

I use one timer for my garden and another one for my fruit trees (which currently are all about the same age and size.) Early in the season, I set the garden timer to run for 4 hours every 7 days, and as the temperatures increase, I decrease the interval as needed so that the soil moisture is nearly dry when the next cycle starts.

For both my tomato and pepper rows, the emitters are spaced 3 feet apart on ½” tubing about 65-70 feet long. I lay the 10 lines of tubing with emitters down each spring and if the soil is dry, water once a few days before I plan to transplant. I then make a hole next to each emitter and put a tomato or pepper plant in the hole and water in by hand, and that is the only hand watering I do.

Our water is very hard here, so I do keep an eye on the condition of plants as we approach the next water cycle, especially later in the season. If I find that a plant is showing signs of lack of water before the cycle (a single plant, not multiple plants) I’ll take a couple of identical containers and lift the hose at the stressed plant, and one that is not and place the drippers over the containers. If the stressed plant’s container fills more slowly than the other container, I will swap out the dripper for a new one and drop the old dripper into a jar of vinegar to clean out any hard water buildup. After a few days soak, I will test the dripper again and if it is OK, put it back to be used again, otherwise it gets tossed into the recycle bin. If multiple plants are droopy, that’s when I shorten the timer interval.

It works for me. YMMV.

Betsy

[recruiterg]

Is there a big difference between using drip tape and using soaker hoses? If yes, please discuss the pros and cons...

[Suze]

Originally Posted by recruiterg

Is there a big difference between using drip tape and using soaker hoses? If yes, please discuss the pros and cons...

I use flexible drip tubing (Netafim brand), not the tape. After some discussion with a few local farmers I decided to go with the tubing as opposed to the tape, mainly because of durability. Wanted something that would hopefully last a few years without becoming torn up or clogged. Tubing does cost more than tape, though.

Before the switch to tubing, soaker hoses were used. They got the job done just fine, but the two main drawbacks for me were 1) time - although I had quick connects in place for every soaker (and also a couple of splitters so more than one bed at a time could be watered), I still had to be around to move the main hoses from area to area. 2) Durability - soaker hoses generally only lasted two years max. The water is very hard where I live.

Here's how the tubing was installed if you're interested. First, we had a well put in - but we were going to do that anyway. Later in the year when there was time, the tubing was installed in the beds. This is all hooked up to a sprinkler controller, and programs are set for each zone (amnt of time and days to water.) This is great, not just because of all the time saved, but also because I can go out of town for a few days and not have to fret about the watering.

http://www.feldoncentral.com/garden/...en/irrigation/

[clkeiper]

We use the flat tape because we have a different layout for the garden every year. The product is very economical, therefor we are able to just dispose of it and not have the system to work around while cleaning up the garden and getting it tilled. ( This was not the year to be working in the garden keeping the weeds out, due to the continual rainfall all summer long. It was wet, wet, wet. We could hardly get into the garden to harvest let alone try to weed it. So the tape was hardly needed for the season. mostly it was needed in the high tunnels.)