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#1
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Can You Bury Drip-Line Hoses?
When I installed my drip-line hoses (Rain Drip Drip-A-Long 1/2" hoses
with emitters every 18") I buried them about an inch in the soil. I'm having some trouble with them now, and on Rain Drip's website they say to keep the emitters out of the dirt. What do folks in this newsgroup do? Do you bury the hoses in the dirt, only cover them with mulch, or what? Thanks. |
#2
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Can You Bury Drip-Line Hoses?
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#3
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Can You Bury Drip-Line Hoses?
Fleemo wrote:
When I installed my drip-line hoses (Rain Drip Drip-A-Long 1/2" hoses with emitters every 18") I buried them about an inch in the soil. I'm having some trouble with them now, and on Rain Drip's website they say to keep the emitters out of the dirt. What do folks in this newsgroup do? Do you bury the hoses in the dirt, only cover them with mulch, or what? Thanks. I'm not familiar with that particular brand, but in general, leaving drip lines on the surface causes them to move around irregularly due to expansion and contraction. I always bury mine, but I also replace them every year (I buy 8 mil drip line in long reels). Taking them out of the field allows me to plow, disk, harrow, etc. without worrying about snagging the drip line. It can be re-used, but the problem is storing the line over the winter without having it kink or having rodents chew on it. It's easier for me to use new stuff every year. If you're using it for a permanent installation (orchard, berry patch, etc.) you will want to use the 25 mil (or more) stuff. It should be able to withstand being buried, since that's how everyone I know installs it. |
#4
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Can You Bury Drip-Line Hoses?
"Fleemo" wrote in message
om... When I installed my drip-line hoses (Rain Drip Drip-A-Long 1/2" hoses with emitters every 18") I buried them about an inch in the soil. I'm having some trouble with them now, and on Rain Drip's website they say to keep the emitters out of the dirt. What do folks in this newsgroup do? Do you bury the hoses in the dirt, only cover them with mulch, or what? Drip tape and 1/4 inch drip line with inline emitters are run at 10-15 psi and the output will be restricted if it surrounded by waterpacked soil - more of a problem with clay soil, less with sandy soil. Dripworks' (www.dripworksusa.com) 1/2 inch drip lines with extruded inline emitters are run from 25 psi up to line pressure and can be buried but work better on the soil surface. Any drip system lasts longer when it is protected (covered) from the sun with organic mulch that does not block emitter output. -Olin |
#5
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Can You Bury Drip-Line Hoses?
Thanks for the input here folks.
Replacing the entire system of drip lines in my garden would be a large and rather expensive chore every season. As a gardening hobbiest and not a professional grower, I think I'd like to try for a "permanent" installation. The drip lines seem to be rather finicky over the long run. I'm wondering if I could install a series of soaker hoses to replace the drip lines? Does anyone know of a length limitation in a long line of connected soaker hoses? |
#6
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Can You Bury Drip-Line Hoses?
"Fleemo" asked this:
Does anyone know of a length limitation in a long line of connected soaker hoses? Ditto that question! And how long does a basic Wal-Mart soaker hose last if buried? And do you snake them around the plants? Or just lay it in a straight run? And do you place it on the dirt under the mulch or do you actually bury it an inch or two? Sheesh, didn't even know I had those questions in me! Thx in advance, John Austin, Tex Where we are thankful it is only 90 degrees today! "Fleemo" wrote in message om... Thanks for the input here folks. Replacing the entire system of drip lines in my garden would be a large and rather expensive chore every season. As a gardening hobbiest and not a professional grower, I think I'd like to try for a "permanent" installation. The drip lines seem to be rather finicky over the long run. I'm wondering if I could install a series of soaker hoses to replace the drip lines? Does anyone know of a length limitation in a long line of connected soaker hoses? |
#7
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Can You Bury Drip-Line Hoses?
Fleemo wrote:
Thanks for the input here folks. Replacing the entire system of drip lines in my garden would be a large and rather expensive chore every season. As a gardening hobbiest and not a professional grower, I think I'd like to try for a "permanent" installation. The drip lines seem to be rather finicky over the long run. I'm wondering if I could install a series of soaker hoses to replace the drip lines? Does anyone know of a length limitation in a long line of connected soaker hoses? The length limitation in drip lines is related to (1) the total flow and (2) the elevation variation. For soaker hoses running at line pressure, the elevation variation should be relatively unimportant assuming your garden is not on the side of a large slope. The flow is important because (1) limitations in the source and (2) pressure drop along the line. If you are using a large diameter soaker hose you are unlikely to run into a length limitation unless you are running it more than 500 ft. Thin soaker hoses would have a shorter useful length. I've forgotten whatever fluid dynamics I ever knew (which wasn't much to begin with), but I have a vague impression that the line friction varies with the inverse cube of the diameter. At any rate it's a fairly strong function as the tube dimensions get smaller. If you are running the soaker less than 100 ft, there shouldn't be a problem with any of the hoses I've seen. More than that, you might want to put them in parallel. If you have a lot of them, you might want to arrange them in zones so that your water source can keep up with them. One problem with permanent installations is rodents chewing on tubing. You might want to consider some way to tell if you have leaks in your system. Maybe a pressure gauge at both ends of the tube would help. An increase in the pressure differential would indicate an increased flow (a leak). Drip lines are built with emitters that are based on turbulent flow through a small channel. Soaker hoses are built with holes. If the holes enlarge with time, you will get a larger water output (and possibly more non-uniformity of watering). In my opinion, the drip lines will retain their uniformity longer, but I haven't done any permanent installations, so I'm not an expert. However, people who use drip on orchards and berries use drip lines rather than soaker hoses. (Probably in part because drip line is cheaper in the quantities needed for large areas.) Filters are recommended for drip lines. The simplest filter is a disk filter, which costs around $10-15 for up to 10-15 gpm flow. The filters keep particles out of the drip lines which could clog the emitters or the regulating channels. Filters are essential for any open source (water pumped from a stream or pond). For a residential water system, you might be able to get away without one, but they're cheap, so it's probably better to use one. |
#8
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Can You Bury Drip-Line Hoses?
"John T. Jarrett" wrote:
...And how long does a basic Wal-Mart soaker hose last if buried? I'm not familiar with that brand, but they're probably cheap plastic. The plastic might last 2-5 years depending on what chews on it, but the fittings (also cheap) can degrade when buried (particularly if you have acid soil). Get a soaker hose that you can replace the fittings on when they go bad (i.e. a hose with a round cross section, or one that can be expanded to fit onto one of those plastic replacement fittings). And do you snake them around the plants? Or just lay it in a straight run? It depends on the type of soil you have. In sandy soil the water will not spread out much, so you want it as close to the plant as you can get it. In clay soil it will spread out a lot, so the straight run should be fine. And do you place it on the dirt under the mulch or do you actually bury it an inch or two? If it is exposed to the sun, expansion and contraction will cause it to "walk" around the garden. You can pin it in place, but it will move around between the pins. Burying it a couple of inches is recommended, whether it's buried in dirt or under mulch is probably irrelevant. |
#9
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Can You Bury Drip-Line Hoses?
Dwight, thanks for the thorough response!
The reason I was entertaining the idea of a soaker hose as opposed to a dripline is that I keep having trouble with spotty watering. Some emitters seem to flow freely, while entire sections of hose seem to barely emit any water at all. I do have a filter on the system and flush it occasionally, but this dripline system is proving to be a source of inifinite frustration. -Fleemo Dwight Sipler wrote in message ... Fleemo wrote: Thanks for the input here folks. Replacing the entire system of drip lines in my garden would be a large and rather expensive chore every season. As a gardening hobbiest and not a professional grower, I think I'd like to try for a "permanent" installation. The drip lines seem to be rather finicky over the long run. I'm wondering if I could install a series of soaker hoses to replace the drip lines? Does anyone know of a length limitation in a long line of connected soaker hoses? The length limitation in drip lines is related to (1) the total flow and (2) the elevation variation. For soaker hoses running at line pressure, the elevation variation should be relatively unimportant assuming your garden is not on the side of a large slope. The flow is important because (1) limitations in the source and (2) pressure drop along the line. If you are using a large diameter soaker hose you are unlikely to run into a length limitation unless you are running it more than 500 ft. Thin soaker hoses would have a shorter useful length. I've forgotten whatever fluid dynamics I ever knew (which wasn't much to begin with), but I have a vague impression that the line friction varies with the inverse cube of the diameter. At any rate it's a fairly strong function as the tube dimensions get smaller. If you are running the soaker less than 100 ft, there shouldn't be a problem with any of the hoses I've seen. More than that, you might want to put them in parallel. If you have a lot of them, you might want to arrange them in zones so that your water source can keep up with them. One problem with permanent installations is rodents chewing on tubing. You might want to consider some way to tell if you have leaks in your system. Maybe a pressure gauge at both ends of the tube would help. An increase in the pressure differential would indicate an increased flow (a leak). Drip lines are built with emitters that are based on turbulent flow through a small channel. Soaker hoses are built with holes. If the holes enlarge with time, you will get a larger water output (and possibly more non-uniformity of watering). In my opinion, the drip lines will retain their uniformity longer, but I haven't done any permanent installations, so I'm not an expert. However, people who use drip on orchards and berries use drip lines rather than soaker hoses. (Probably in part because drip line is cheaper in the quantities needed for large areas.) Filters are recommended for drip lines. The simplest filter is a disk filter, which costs around $10-15 for up to 10-15 gpm flow. The filters keep particles out of the drip lines which could clog the emitters or the regulating channels. Filters are essential for any open source (water pumped from a stream or pond). For a residential water system, you might be able to get away without one, but they're cheap, so it's probably better to use one. |
#10
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Can You Bury Drip-Line Hoses?
Fleemo
For what its worth, my experience: very similar to yours. I find drippers very unreliable and must be individually checked 2 -3 times a year. Usually I find 10-15% of them not working correctly each time I check. I have not used drippers installed directly in 1/2" line but on the ends of 1/4 " tube off 1/2" line; lines are buried but drippers are not. If they were, checking would be a nightmare. Besides, burying drippers means soil can get sucked in under some conditions when water is shuts off e.g. suction caused by downhill portion of line. Have also had the same problem with 1/4" drip line with drippers in line every 6". I don't dare bury that stuff! BTW almost all my equipment is Raindrip. Having drippers go bad on perrenial beds is exasperating enough but for shrubs and trees it can be very sad and expensive. For the latter, I always use a minimium of 4 drippers per location just for insurance. For individual plants/perrenial beds, I have ripped out most off the drippers and gone to sprinklers, not just because of unreliablility and placement and checking headaches but I also do not find drippers spread the water enough for my soil (loam) and plant spacings. For veggie gardens (and also hanging baskets and pots), I use 1/4" porous soaker line from Orbit laid on top of soil off my 1/2" header line.. It seems to work well for row planting and is fairly inexpensive too replace if needed. Also it is easily moved out off the way for tilling each spring. Do not use lengths of more than 10 - 15 feet as the output beyond that drops dramatically. I also use these in conjunction with in-line 1/4" adjustable shut off valves (Orbit) which I find very useful for regulation especially in mixed dripper/sprinkler/soaker applications and with pots/ baskets. Water is from a well and thus cheap! P.S. I would ALWAYS use a 150 mesh filter for all dripper systems. They are inexpensive and do help here with drippers clogging. You never can be sure, even on city water, when maintenance crews (or nature) are going to send out a "shot" of particles. I have very few particles in the water but it contains iron bacteria which clogs drips. Filter seems to catch this but does nothing for my hard water which I suspect also helps clog drippers. Also I pay careful attention to anti-syphon devices. With "global warming" (???) weather causing so much disruption of water and power services, and the growing list of contaminants (SARS virus, giant pig farms, mad cow disease, etc), I don't think the manufacturers of DIY irrigation equipment emphasize this aspect enough. Just my 2 cents worth of experience over 3 years and with 7 valved/timed zones. Zone 4 gardener "jc" wrote in message ... "Fleemo" wrote in message om... When I installed my drip-line hoses (Rain Drip Drip-A-Long 1/2" hoses with emitters every 18") I buried them about an inch in the soil. I'm having some trouble with them now, and on Rain Drip's website they say to keep the emitters out of the dirt. What do folks in this newsgroup do? Do you bury the hoses in the dirt, only cover them with mulch, or what? Drip tape and 1/4 inch drip line with inline emitters are run at 10-15 psi and the output will be restricted if it surrounded by waterpacked soil - more of a problem with clay soil, less with sandy soil. Dripworks' (www.dripworksusa.com) 1/2 inch drip lines with extruded inline emitters are run from 25 psi up to line pressure and can be buried but work better on the soil surface. Any drip system lasts longer when it is protected (covered) from the sun with organic mulch that does not block emitter output. -Olin |
#11
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Can You Bury Drip-Line Hoses?
Wow, I really appreciate all the excellent feedback I've received
here. You guys are great! One final question... does anyone know whether the color of the plastic emitter (barely visible in the tiny holes in the 1/2" black plastic tubing) indicates the flow rate of the emitters? I started off with a drip-line using green emitters, then inadvertantly replaced damaged sections with drip-line using yellow emitters. The yellow ones don't seem to work nearly as well, yet they're all I can find in the stores now. To date, my e-mailed inquirey to RainBird has gone unanswered. |
#12
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Can You Bury Drip-Line Hoses?
Fleemo wrote:
One final question... does anyone know whether the color of the plastic emitter (barely visible in the tiny holes in the 1/2" black plastic tubing) indicates the flow rate of the emitters? I started off with a drip-line using green emitters, then inadvertantly replaced damaged sections with drip-line using yellow emitters. The yellow ones don't seem to work nearly as well, yet they're all I can find in the stores now. To date, my e-mailed inquirey to RainBird has gone unanswered. Try their website: http://www.rainbird.com/drip/product...ssure_comp.htm Light brown, 5 GPH Violet, 7 GPH Green, 10 GPH Dark brown, 12 GPH White, 18 GPH Orange, 24 GPH -- Warren H. ========== Disclaimer: My views reflect those of myself, and not my employer, my friends, nor (as she often tells me) my wife. Any resemblance to the views of anybody living or dead is coincidental. No animals were hurt in the writing of this response -- unless you count my dog who desperately wants to go outside now. |
#13
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Can You Bury Drip-Line Hoses?
"Warren" wrote in message news:HZaDa.823275$OV.778812@rwcrnsc54...
Fleemo wrote: One final question... does anyone know whether the color of the plastic emitter (barely visible in the tiny holes in the 1/2" black plastic tubing) indicates the flow rate of the emitters? I started off with a drip-line using green emitters, then inadvertantly replaced damaged sections with drip-line using yellow emitters. The yellow ones don't seem to work nearly as well, yet they're all I can find in the stores now. To date, my e-mailed inquirey to RainBird has gone unanswered. Try their website: http://www.rainbird.com/drip/product...ssure_comp.htm Light brown, 5 GPH Violet, 7 GPH Green, 10 GPH Dark brown, 12 GPH White, 18 GPH Orange, 24 GPH -- Warren H. Thanks for the input, Warren, but the emitters I'm referring to are built in to the lengths of drip line hose, not the ones you punch into regular plastic tubing. I'm pretty sure they have a different color-coding for the built-in emitters. Otherwise, each time I've watered over the last two years I've splashed around 30 gallons of water on my plants! (Funny, I don't remember putting in a pool back here.) Thanks! -Fleemo |
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