It spreads farther in clay (basically because the water has a longer time to travel before soaking in). In sand it spreads the least. Silt and loam are in between.

Yes, they do. They have recently released 1/4" soaker hose (oozing water all along its length) for use with drip systems for this reason. I have not tried it, but I'm tempted.

And my preferred brands have 6" spacing between holes.

What I do for crops with tight spacing is stagger them so the holes in one are between the holes in the other, with the hoses closely spaced so I end up with a grid of 3" spacing in that area. Or make a spiral that covers that area

I've tried drip and soaker hoses. Neither has worked well in my sandy soil. Pretty much goes straight down with large pockets of dryness.

They work surprisingly well. Last year I used the ones with 12" spacing and ran them 12" apart and had no problem with things like carrots, onions, radishes etc that were more closely spaced than this. This year I did replace them with the ones with 6" spacing - they are still 12" apart though. Seems to work a little better but hard to say it really makes a difference- the surface is more evenly wet i guess. The key is checking the moisture of the soil a couple inches down though of course. Mine all run on a timer and I can easily hit a button to add 24/48 etc hours rain delay depending on wet the soil actually is. Pretty darn convenient!

Where have you found tubing with narrower drip spacing?

i have mine on a timer, too.

I have super sandy soil and went with 6" spacing. I got it at dripworks.com

I picked it up on amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00B8C6DU0/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Yeah, I have gotten the shrub kit from dripworks.com , good company in my experience so far. This page should have what you're looking for. https://www.dripworks.com/drip-irrigation/tubing/1-4-soaker-dripline

@gjcore sounds like you need to add some compost to your soil.

OK, just got this (this brand because it fits the specs and I'm a sucker for that 2-day delivery). I'd already had the line run for the tightly spaced plants (radishes, arugula, mesclun) but I figure I'll swap it for this one and put that other line in with the cukes (which Autocorrect insists are cakes).

Scott, do you think that emitter spec of ".08 gallon per hour" is a typo or accurate? Seems pretty slow. Aren't most .5 gallon per hour? That's what mine are listed at.

Typo. The specs from the manufacturer's web site says "Flow rate: 0.9 gph."

But I actually cancelled the order at the last moment. Instead, I'm going to go with some of these:

http://misterlandscaper.com/5-gph-add-a-drippers-qty-511

I can just stick them into the already laid lines and it'll double the watering density. Note that though it says "These drippers can be added together every 12-in on a single line of 1/4-in vinyl" that's for the distribution line. More important is the spec that "If you are using the 1/4-in In-Line Drip Tubing... and more water is needed on certain plants, you can add these Add-A-Drippers." That's where the denser watering works out.

I'm using 1/2" tape, 12" OC drip @25psi; buried just under the surface.
Do any of you use the "rule of thumb" depth test to decide whether to water or not?

Does anyone fertilize (fish emulsion or MG) thru the tape or surface only?

Had some soaking rains the last few days here on LI. Don't want to overdo it.

Mostly tomatoes, tomatillos, lettuce, asparagus.


Had a really bad bout this year with tree feed roots choking the garden.

I think I'll have the gardens rototilled every year now, as the roots are very aggressive.

Hey fellow Long Islanders, I am using Shrubbers from Dripworks https://www.dripworks.com/pressure-compensating-shrubbler on my Tomatoes, peppers and zucchini. I have placed them in-between each plant and water about 20 mins at 30 psi. I haven't watered for awhile since we have had so much rain but let them get some today since we will be having some nice 80 degree temps and good sun. So far I am getting very good results.

@ Steve - the 1/4" barb version or the stake version?

I assume 1/2" supply tube?

Stake Version and Yes 1/2" supply tube.

20 mins isn't usually nearly long enough.

Dave

@digdirt2 at 30 psi they are pumping out 8.1 gallons an hour so at 20 mins that is 2.7 gallons of water. You don't think that is enough? How long would you recommend in your opinion? Hell man I thought I might be over doing it.

I setup drip irrigation last yr when I needed to travel and couldn't water my raised beds and containers. Simple setup but worth it. I started with 12" spacing but 6" spacing is better. I also put on/off valves at each raised beds so I can turn off one if not using that bed. Overall I am happy with it. I run it 20 mins every other day.

"@digdirt2 at 30 psi they are pumping out 8.1 gallons an hour so at 20 mins that is 2.7 gallons of water. You don't think that is enough? How long would you recommend in your opinion? Hell man I thought I might be over doing it."

Over how long a system? And what # of plants? 2.7 gallons of water over a 50' run of emitters and a number of plants isn't much per plant at all so you end up with shallow watering rather than deep and water-dependent shallow root structures. The key is depth and less frequency.

Normal run times on drip systems - many variables affect it - usually falls into the 1-2 hour + time range. With containers, assuming proper size, mix, and emitter distribution, the time is determined by how long it takes for the water to begin to drain out the bottom.

Dave

Thats a good idea, to run it and have a container to see when it drips out the bottom