need a watering solution for this situation...

12 years ago

So i have a 20ft x 60ft watermelon patch in a community garden... last year I could have the hose along the middle and walk along the middle area and water the 5 mounds on both sides of that area (10 mounds total)...
That was fine last year cause I could guide the watermelon plants mostly to steer clear of the middle area so the hose didnt have to run over the plants and knock off leaves/flowers/fruit when i was walking along that 60ft line watering each side.

This year I have the same setup, but around 40 small mounds for hot pepper plants lining the outside fence area. towards the end of the July, I can't really walk with the hose into those outside fence areas since it'll run over the melon vines which are sprawling all over.

I was thinking like i could get about 8ft away from the peppers plants since I dont want the heavy hose running over the melon vines.

Here is what the setup looks like and you can see its going to be hard to get 10ft over to water the hot peppers along the front and back.:
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Goto this link if pic above doesn't load:
http://i.imgur.com/bzqozpl.jpg

I was looking for a long extended spray gun, max i found at home depot is around 3ft. I was thinking at worst I can make something out of wood that holds the hose slightly over the plant with the nozzle spraying downward that I'd move to each plant as Im going down the line. But was curious if there is anything already made for this situation. Like a telescoping lightweight/aluminum spray gun (Ive only seen the super high pressure ones for cleaning gutters).

Basically Im going to make something like this where a hose extension is attached to a wood contraption which I can lift and put under each pepper plant and water from a distance:
{{gwi:98876}}
Goto this link if pic above doesn't load:
http://i.imgur.com/o1QEZ9Q.jpg

This post was edited by armyofda12mnkeys on Thu, May 29, 14 at 22:41

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Comments (7)

lascatx
12 years ago
What about running a soaker hose through there and using one of those quick release connectors so you can just attache the hose and let it soak the ground while you tend to other things, come back and turn off the water and disconnect the hoses
armyofda12mnkeys
Original Author
12 years ago
Hey lascatx,
You cant use a soaker hose at the community garden since its well water and low pressure, and I think they dont like people leaving it on and walking away (probably were some instances of people driving back home and coming back after hours).
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northshore3
12 years ago
You could redrill the sprayhead of the lightweight/aluminum spray gun-- using a 1/16"-or-- 1/8" drill and drilling as many holes in it as it takes to get a reduction of the original gutter blasting pressure to whatever pressure and configuration you like. The original blast hole can be dampered by screwing a sheet metal into it.
charina
12 years ago
Were it my garden I would definitely be looking at a way to put in an automatic drip system. Perhaps the funding is not there for the community garden in order to buy a timer, valve, and the piping.

Rather than a wood contraption, how about a 2 inch PVC pipe cut in half lengthwise? (would need use of a table saw)

Another idea would be to run a section of PVC pipe down the length of each row of peppers that can't be reached, with a hole drilled in the pipe just over each pepper mound. This way all of the peppers down one row could be watered by watering one end of the pipe. Something sort of like in the YouTube video below, but not pressurized, so with bigger holes and perhaps a bucket at one end to fill.

"How to make a soaker hose part 1" on YouTube
http://youtu.be/lwS8GN8O-Xs
armyofda12mnkeys
Original Author
12 years ago
Hey charina,
yeh the community garden is at an old farm, so its well water i believe and each spigot would be overwhelmed with people hooking up their own waterline/hose and trying to water 'lazily' via a drip-like system and think any sort of drip system is I think outlawed because of it. I'll double-check later into the 'Rules and Regulations Book' though as a drip-line would be most optimal.

The 2inch PVC pipe could be a good idea. my friend with alot of tools in his workshop is going to help me next couple weeks to make something. Thanks for the idea.
rob_343
12 years ago
I cannot help with the spray gun plan, but I would echo what Charina said. I use a home made version of the device in this link.

It is:
- 5 gallon bucket
- drip lines made with smallest gauge standard drip line
- hole drilled in the bucket to closely match outer diameter of drip line
- inside the bucket, a coupler is attached to the end of the hose. This makes the drip line flare, so that pulling on it tightens it against the hole in the bucket.
- attached to the coupler is a pill bottle that has holes drilled in it. It is filled with aquarium floss (like pillow filling), that acts as a filter.
- On the watering end, I have micro valves to control the flow. Basically, they are little quarter-turn valves. I can try to dig them up online if you are interested.

This works great for me, BUT I am only doing individual trees and a 12' blueberry raised bed. I would guess you would need many more buckets or larger vessels. Also, larger tubing probably more akin to the PVC ones in Charina's vid. Maybe you could calculate gallons needed per sq ft?

It is pretty easy to just fill up the buckets and walk away. Plus, it is a slow watering so you have less run off. Let me know is my description is confusing... I can take pictures.

Here is a link that might be useful: Drip Irrigation Bucket
rob_343
12 years ago
Hey Army,

I had another thought after posting and also clicked on one of the links on the page I already posted...

I have read that regular PVC is not UV stabilized, so it will probably break down over time. I think it can be painted to make it last longer.

Also, check out the link below. The idea of putting a screw into the PVC through both sides of the pipe to make a valve looks like a good idea.

The plantings in my yard are still in flux, but when completed, I will probably move away from buckets and put in a system like this hooked directly to my rain barrels.

I hope this helps.

Here is a link that might be useful: Another link