I'm going to give soaker hoses a try this year in my 4 1/2' X 50'
vegetable bed. Having never used them before, I do have a few
questions. I will be planting 3 rows of vegetables the full length of
the bed. There will be 18" between rows. I will use be using two 50'
soaker hoses connected to a Y splitter. I will place one hose down the
center of each row. The hose will be 9" away from my plants on either
side. My soil structure is clay that will be amended with compost and
other organic matter. The bed will also be well tilled before planting.
My questions a Will a soaker hose provide enough water for plants
that are 9" away from it ??? Also, how often and for what length of
time should I use the system each week if we don't get any rain ??? The
last thing I would like to know is it better to bury the soaker hoses a
bit or just lay them right on top of the soil ??? The reason I'm
planting so close together in this bed is because I want to give intense
planting and intercropping a try this year. Just not so sure what size
area two soaker hoses will take care of Any ideas on my irrigation
plan for this year would be more than welcomed

Happy Gardening ........... Rich

(EVP MAN) wrote:

I'm going to give soaker hoses a try this year in my 4 1/2' X 50'
vegetable bed.

You need only one soaker hose down the center.... three soaker hoses
down that narrow swarth is way over kill. Only advice is to buy high
quality soaker hose, the cheapos at the big box stores won't last the
season and they don't distribute water evenly, they over water near
the source and fizzle out before ever reaching the end. Leevalley.com
has very high quality soaker hoses... I have like 200' feet in my barn
that I brought with me from my last garden, anyone wants them just
come and pick them up... but I don't know how well they've aged,.
probably best to buy new... you only need a 50' length - $20. And get
an automatic timer for your hose bib or you'll over water and/or
forget.

http://www.leevalley.com/garden/page...t=2,2280,33160

Most vegetable gardens seem to need one or two inches of water a week
depending on how hot the days are. Since I don't know how long to run
my soaker hoses, I may try this as a test. I will bury three
containers at ground level, one near the beginning of the hose, one in
the middle and another one near the end. I will then turn on the water
and let it run for an hour. Next, I'll measure the amount of water in
each container for depth. For example, if I measure a half inch of
water in the containers, I'll know that I have to run my system 4 hours
a week in order to get two inches of water to my garden. Does this
sound like it will work?

Rich

OK, I'll need to run my soaker hoses for 6 hours to equal one inch of
rain for the size of my garden. That should also equal about 6" deep in
my type of soil. The question now is: would it be best to run my
system for a full 6 hours in one shot or would it be best to water three
times a week for 2 hours at a time providing we get no rain in any given
week? I plan to water around 8:00 am. rather than in the evening so I
would imagine I'll have to allow perhaps a little extra time to
compensate for evaporation.

Rich

EVP MAN wrote:
I'm going to give soaker hoses a try this year in my 4 1/2' X 50'
vegetable bed. Having never used them before, I do have a few
questions. I will be planting 3 rows of vegetables the full length of
the bed. There will be 18" between rows. I will use be using two 50'
soaker hoses connected to a Y splitter. I will place one hose down
the center of each row. The hose will be 9" away from my plants on
either side. My soil structure is clay that will be amended with
compost and other organic matter. The bed will also be well tilled
before planting. My questions a Will a soaker hose provide enough
water for plants that are 9" away from it ??? Also, how often and
for what length of time should I use the system each week if we don't
get any rain ??? The last thing I would like to know is it better to
bury the soaker hoses a bit or just lay them right on top of the soil
??? The reason I'm planting so close together in this bed is because
I want to give intense planting and intercropping a try this year.
Just not so sure what size area two soaker hoses will take care of
Any ideas on my irrigation plan for this year would be more than
welcomed


My experience with soaker hoses is that they don't throw water much unless you
overpressure them. The water spreads some by diffusion through the soil, but not
long distances, so having the hose close to the row of plants would be
advantages. If you increase pressure to get throw, you still get way more water
where the hose is, and you get way more difference in water output from the
beginning to the end of the hose.

I heard that soaker hoses work quite well if you buy a decent hose and
keep the hose under 100' in length. My bed will only be 4 1/2 feet wide
and 50' long. I'll be running two soaker hoses 18" apart down the
center of my bed. My plants will be any distance I desire away from
each hose. I was thinking about 6" away would be a good distance. Do
you think that would work out ok for me? They will be on a timer and
also a pressure regulator. I plan to run the system twice a week for 2
hours at a time if we don't get any rain.

Rich

My acquaintance with soaker hoses is that they don't bandy baptize abundant unless you overpressure them. The baptize spreads some by circulation through the soil, but not long distances, so accepting the corrupt abutting to the row of plants would be advantages.

My leaky hoses work well as I mentioned, I've got mine split into three sections of similar length. So there's no chance one end getting starved of water. Common sense really.

Same with my "pop ups," the heads are equidistant from the supply point.

As mentioned, leaky hoses don't water much more than a foot either side, that's why on one bed and the rockery I've got them in an "S" formation.