Keep your plants watered with an efficient drip system.
Drip irrigation is the most efficient way to keep plants watered for two reasons: Water is used only where it is needed, and water leeches into the soil before it has a chance to evaporate. Before laying the drip system, check the guidelines governing the size and length of tubing and the types of emitters to use, and aways remember to use a check valve to prevent backflow into your home's drinking water. It is easy to connect a drip system to a battery-powered timer so that plants will be watered even when you are not home. Does this Spark an idea?
Instructions
1. Run plastic piping from the water supply to the garden. Glue on a male adapter and then screw on a hose bib. The total length of this pipe and the 1/2-inch main drip supply lines cannot exceed 400 feet.
2. Connect the system components to the hose bib. Screw on a timer, followed by a check valve to prevent dirty water from being sucked back into your drinking water system. Screw on a pressure regulator, filter and a tubing adapter in preparation for running the main drip lines.
3. Snake 1/2-inch polyethylene tubing throughout the garden. Keep it aboveground and stake it every 3 feet or so. If you bury the line, it may get eaten by gophers.
4. Run lateral lines from this main line by punching holes in the tubing and snapping in barbed connectors for 1/4-inch lines. Run the 1/4-inch hose to the points of use. You can use tees to run more than one 1/4-inch line from each hole, but keep in mind that the total length of the tubing from each hole cannot be more than 200 feet. Stake these lateral lines at 3-foot intervals.
5. Snap drip emitters into the ends of the lateral lines and position them near the roots of the plants. Use two emitters spaced at least 18 inches apart per plant. The total number of emitters in the system should not exceed 180 if they emit one gallon per hour, and 300 if they emit half a gallon per hour.
6. Vent the line at the highest point to ensure all plants are equally watered if you're running drip lines down a slope. Install check at intervals in the main line going down a slope to prevent water from running out of the lowest emitter when the valve is shut off. Use pressure compensating emitters on the lower part of the slope.
7. Tie off the ends of the main line and any lateral lines that do not have emitters installed. The easiest way to do this is to fold the tube in half and secure it with cable ties, wire or electrical tape.
Tags: lateral lines, drip system, main line, check valve, check valve prevent, down slope