I have a long, narrow planting area that I think would be a good place
to use a soaker hose. I tried one, the area at the head end got
flooded, at the distant end got very little water. I used pull
pressure from the hose bib, it seemed to me that the hose should carry
the water and that the amount leaking out should only be affected by
the porosity.

did I get a bad hose? Are there good ones?


--

- Charles
-
-does not play well with others

On Wed, 02 Jul 2003 02:24:16 GMT, Charles
wrote:

I have a long, narrow planting area that I think would be a good place
to use a soaker hose. I tried one, the area at the head end got
flooded, at the distant end got very little water. I used pull
pressure from the hose bib, it seemed to me that the hose should carry
the water and that the amount leaking out should only be affected by
the porosity.

did I get a bad hose? Are there good ones?

I use lots of soaker hose without problems. I do not know the brand
name though, I got them from Mellinger's in Ohio.

The soaker do tend to kink a bit, especially when new. Have you
checked for kinks? That would explain what you are seeing.

Good luck,

John

Charles writes in article dated Wed, 02 Jul 2003 02:24:16 GMT:
I have a long, narrow planting area that I think would be a good place
to use a soaker hose. I tried one, the area at the head end got
flooded, at the distant end got very little water. I used pull
pressure from the hose bib, it seemed to me that the hose should carry
the water and that the amount leaking out should only be affected by
the porosity.

It's also affected by pressure, but that shouldn't be much different at one
end than the other. 7 feet of elevation is a 3 psi pressure difference.

--Thundermaker$yahoo.com (Spud Demon)
The above may not (yet) represent the opinions of my employer.

Charles wrote:
I have a long, narrow planting area that I think would be a good place
to use a soaker hose. I tried one, the area at the head end got
flooded, at the distant end got very little water. I used pull
pressure from the hose bib, it seemed to me that the hose should carry
the water and that the amount leaking out should only be affected by
the porosity.

did I get a bad hose? Are there good ones?



Sears sells some lifetime guaranteed ones. I've not used the
soakers but have a few of their regular hoses (black rubber
lifetimes) and am VERY pleased with them. Soakers are of the same
material.

"Charles" wrote in message
...
I have a long, narrow planting area that I think would be a good place
to use a soaker hose. I tried one, the area at the head end got
flooded, at the distant end got very little water. I used pull
pressure from the hose bib, it seemed to me that the hose should carry
the water and that the amount leaking out should only be affected by
the porosity.

did I get a bad hose? Are there good ones?

Using a pressure regulator at the supply end helps to equalize the
distribution. You also might want to think about using drip tapes
instead. The higher flow (40 gph/100 ft or 60 gph/100 ft) drip tapes
are less likely to become plugged up due to residual salts from
evaporation. You need to run the tapes in a straight line - can't curve
them like the hoses but it works okay with a little planning. Companies
like Dripworks
www.dripworksusa.com
carry a pretty comprehensive assortment of soakers, drip tapes, and
accessories and also have lots of useful information about
installation. -Olin

In article ,
Charles wrote:
I have a long, narrow planting area that I think would be a good place
to use a soaker hose. I tried one, the area at the head end got
flooded, at the distant end got very little water. I used pull
pressure from the hose bib, it seemed to me that the hose should carry
the water and that the amount leaking out should only be affected by
the porosity.

did I get a bad hose? Are there good ones?

The soaker hoses I've tried (on my pressure-regulated system)
have had the same problem. Drip lines have worked much better for me.
I've had good luck with dripworksusa products too.

-frank
--

Before I "install" my soaker hoses I lay them out in full sun till they are
pliable. I make them straighter and straighter before I put them in he beds I'm
using. I bought mine at Sam's Club and they were in two packs of 50' each and
cost about 10 dollars for two. I bought about 5 pairs. They all work end to
end.

However, if the problem is length, or incline (regardless how gentle the slope)
will determine how much water comes out at one end. There have been times where
I had to splice in a length of rubber hose between front where the water enters
and about mid-point down the length and that fixed some problems I once had with
soakers when the water source was up a slope a bit.

I do think if you lay them out in the full sun and manipulate them into being
softer, you'll have better results. The slightest kink and the water drops end
there.

Victoria


On Wed, 02 Jul 2003 02:24:16 GMT, Charles wrote:

I have a long, narrow planting area that I think would be a good place
to use a soaker hose. I tried one, the area at the head end got
flooded, at the distant end got very little water. I used pull
pressure from the hose bib, it seemed to me that the hose should carry
the water and that the amount leaking out should only be affected by
the porosity.

did I get a bad hose? Are there good ones?

Low-volume drip irrigation 1/2" poly tube with a metered control and
drip lines 1/4" should work just fine and wouldn't cost much. Plus you
could bury it under the soil or mulch.

J. Kolenovsky
http://www.celestialhabitats.com

Charles wrote:
=

I have a long, narrow planting area that I think would be a good place
to use a soaker hose. I tried one, the area at the head end got
flooded, at the distant end got very little water. I used pull
pressure from the hose bib, it seemed to me that the hose should carry
the water and that the amount leaking out should only be affected by
the porosity.
=

did I get a bad hose? Are there good ones?
=

--
=

- Charles
-
-does not play well with others

-- =

J. Kolenovsky, A+, Network +, MCP
=F4=BF=F4 - http://www.celestialhabitats.com - business
=F4=BF=F4 - http://www.hal-pc.org/~garden/personal.html - personal

Some of my soaker hoses have really been crappy, ranging from uneven
soaks, to not letting hardly any water through the hose at all until the
pressure is turned up high enough that the damn things burst under
pressure. A couple weeks ago, I think in this thread, someone said the
Seers soaker hoses were the best. I figured what the hell, I did have to
replace a couple soakers that were second-rate. Well, I'm no big fan of
Seers, I rarely set foot in the place, but I put in two Seers soaker
hoses, & hooboy these are the best ones I've ever used. I'm going to
slowly replace almost all the soakers I have with these, except the ones I
got Fred Meyers which have held up nicely, but the Seers ones do seem even
better. Thanks to whoever the heck it was recommended them.

-paghat the ratgirl

--
"Of what are you afraid, my child?" inquired the kindly teacher.
"Oh, sir! The flowers, they are wild," replied the timid creature.
-from Peter Newell's "Wild Flowers"
See the Garden of Paghat the Ratgirl: http://www.paghat.com/