Small Drip System(s) - First Timer

14 years ago

I am setting up my first drip system. The system will water 5 potted plants on the front porch and then ~15 plants in a 5'x10' herb garden at the the back of the house. The hose bib is at the front of the house by the porch plants and the back bed is about 60' from the bib.

A few questions:

1) Can I run such a small system entirely with 1/4" tube? I would have a pressure regulator at the bib, then a 3/4" to 1/4" adapter. The 1/4" tube coming out of the adapter would go directly into a 1/4" T with one 1/4" tube heading to the porch plants and the other 1/4" tube running 60' back to the herb garden. The herb garden tube would have 4 Ts coming out of it serving other 1/4" tubes with 2-3 emitters on them. Is this even worth trying or am I likely to not have enough flow with such small tubing?

2) If that is not feasible, can I have a Y coming off the bib. One side has a pressure regulator and then a 3/4-1/4 adapter that then uses 1/4 tube to water the front porch plants. The other side of the Y will feed a regular garden hose which goes all the way to the herb garden, where I then add a pressure regulator, 1/4 adapter and run a small 15 emitter all 1/4" system for the herb garden. Will having 2 separate individually pressure regulated 1/4" only systems running of the same bib work? Do I need to have a 1/2 line feeding the herb garden instead of 1/4"?

Sorry for the lengthy post. Like I said, this is my first hack at this and I am trying to do it as cheaply and efficiently as possible without duplicating efforts/parts. Thanks for any help.

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Comments (4)

lehua49
14 years ago
Rstarr,

You have a good grasp of what you need so I can tell you have done some research before posting. Just some suggestions. Place a vacuum breaker on your hose bibs before anything else. It is required by most water municipalities and protects yours and others water from contamination. Place a water pressure gauge on the hose bib and read your house pressure. Measure your flow rate by timing how long a 5-gallon bucket takes to fill(gallons per minute or gpm) Your emitters are rated in gpm or gph. you will know how many emitters you can handle for your flow rate. I don't know your hardscape situation without a picture but I would use a Y after the VB and run a 1/2" pvc underground with a hose bib fitting at the end to your garden plot and go from there. Small pipes lose more pressure along its length and experience higher water velocity for the same pressure and make more noise. 3/4" pipe is even better to the garden. Garden hoses will leak or burst over time as a supply line if kept pressurized. They tend to burst when you go on vacation and flood your neighbors for days. Let us know what your pressure and flow rate are. Aloha
rstarr
Original Author
14 years ago
Thanks, lehua. And yes, there will be a both a timer and a backflow preventer at the bib.

I have 6 GPM at the bib. Not sure of pressure as I don't have a pressure gauge.

This system will all be done using above ground polyethylene tubing (this house is a rental, hence wanting to install as cheaply as possible).

It sounds like a 60' run of 1/4" tubing is not a great idea due to pressure loss so I will just have a 3/4" Y after the backflow preventer and run water to the back bed through a garden hose and step-down the pressure at the bed.

I guess my main question is can I run 2 small systems (one 5 emitter; one 15 emitter) all with 1/4" tube, without using a 1/2" for the main line? From my reading it appears that the 5 emitter patio system should be fine on all 1/4", I just don't know about the 15 emitter for the herb garden, with all those Ts coming off a 1/4" main line.
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twolips
14 years ago
rstarr - It has the possibility to work. 1/4" tubing has a flow rate of about 30-35 gph. The items you need only cost around $30, and if it doesn't work, can easily be added to a larger poly tubing.

I would give it a try.
lehua49
14 years ago
Rstarr,

If your 5-gallon bucket filled up in less than one minute your pressure is fine. Find your flow rate for your emitters for the garden. The usual emitters are 1 or 2 gph and are placed two per plant. Using 4 gph that is 0.07 gpm per plant. 15 plants you will use 60 gph. Easily provided by your hose bib flow rate but limited by the pipe size. So use a larger pipe or three 1/4" pipes. Aloha