In article ,
"Suzanne D." wrote:
"jeff" wrote in message
...
Since my garden is compact (runs of 6' to 10' max) I'm thinking the 1/4"
line will be easier to manipulate. Should I be thinking 1/4" for
everything using Ts on the 1/4" line instead of piercing the 1/2"?
You should have at least one main 1/2" line. Having all of the water flow
through 1/4" tubes might cause backup at some point, whereas allowing
several small lines to come out of the big line will keep things flowing
smoothly. I like a single big line just for running along the edge of the
bed, with the little tubes doing all of the creative work among the plants.
What's the 10 gallon pressure compensating flow control for? I have more
than 10 1 gallon pressure compensating drippers in the kit.
I have never used the flow control. I just adjust my flow manually.
How do I water carrot rows? I didn't see 1/4" soaker hose. Mister, or
just keep hand watering? Or the 1/2 gallon inline every 6"?
I hand-watered mine. (I didn't have rows, I broadcast them so they filled
the bed.) Using a mister works well too, but you shouldn't have misters on
the same circuit as drippers. (Use a splitter at the water source.) There
are also 1/4" tubes that have holes every 6 inches, but I have found they
tend to clog, so you'd have to be ready to go out there with a needle every
few weeks. You could also use a needle to put holes in regular 1/4"
tube--that would allow the water to come at intervals closer than 6" if you
wanted.
When I got my 1/4" line with emitters, I was told that emitters wouldn't
supply their rated volume after 20 ft. and that was for 1/2 gal/hr.
emitters. Seems likes it would be a shorter with large emitters. You
would still get water, just not at the volume rated for the emitter.
I think you should keep your 1/2 tubing as the back bone of your drip
system, if for no other reason, t be able to know how much water a plant
is getting.
Since I have different vegetables I wonder if I should put valves inline
for the different sections and set this up for the water frequency of
those neediest (cukes at the moment) and shut off the water to the
sections that don't need more.
That would work. What I do is simply use more drippers on the water-loving
plants, and make them for 1 or 2 GPH instead of 1/2 GPH. This allows more
water to reach each water-loving plant from a single circuit. You can just
turn the flow on and leave for an hour, and all the plants will get their
proper amount of water at the same time.
--S.
--
³When you give food to the poor, they call you a saint. When you ask why the poor have no food, they call you a communist.²
-Archbishop Helder Camara
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