I am on three years now with drip irrigation in my raised bed veggie garden. I find that you get a feel for "how much" pretty quickly. I rely on it full time, but often walk over and tap the "rain delay" button once to put it on hold for 24 hours. If we get a heavy rain I tap it twice or three times for 48, 72 hrs. The trick is to feel down deeply in the soil to check the watering- the surface often looks "dried out" but three inches down can still be very moist. Mulching of course is ideal but I haven't really bothered and everything grows well. Since mine are in raised beds I use the 6" spaced emitters and space the lines a foot apart- this provides complete coverage for anything from carrots to large tomato plants. The roots seem to figure out where the water is!

I get a setting that works with a little trial and error (on every 2 or 3 days for an hour or so) then when things start heating up I just incrementally increase the on time based on what I feel with the soil. Reverse the process in the fall. Pretty simple stuff. Oh, and I keep a log to keep track of my setting each year- which usually means not even much trial and error.

Lots of different ways to approach it- custom layout with individual emitters placed to specific plants, or the tubes with the 6" or 12" spacing (mine are 1/2 gal/hr) in more of a blanket watering. I like the flexibility of the blanket approach since I just leave it in place and can put whatever I want in any box year to year. I disconnect and blow air through the lines before winter freeze. I also have a little plastic valve on each box so I can shut them down individually as necessary.

I recommend the drip for sure, not exactly fully automatic- and I must admit to running out in the middle of the night once or twice to push the "rain delay" before they come on during a downpour- but really is very convenient.

Happy to help if I can answer any questions.

Stuart

Where are you located?

Sounds like a very expensive setup.

I am in Westchester County, NY- just north of NYC. No, the tubing and fittings are pretty inexpensive- and they seem to last. I use the $24 single outlet hose controller by Orbit for the timer.

I'm completely clueless. So are these modular? In the sense that I can take them apart and set them up different ways as I need them? Do you have a link?

You might want to start by pulling up all the previous discussions here about drip systems and irrigation. They are a wealth of info already available here.

Soaker hose is one option of course, drip tape another, and drip tubing using individual plant emitters the third.

Soaker hose is the most flexible, easiest moved if it must be but normally one sets up a hose for each row or area. That way it can be adjusted to varying plant needs. But it also requires good top mulching to last more than 1 or 2 seasons as it breaks down with heat exposure. Actually they all benefit from and work better with good mulching so are intended to be put and remain in place throughout the season. It reduces water waste dramatically but you do still get some run off distribution.

Drip tape is cheapest of the 3, comes in rolls of 100' usually with standard 8 or 12" spacing on the holes and you buy the separate ends and pressure regulators as needed. Visit dripworks.com for details.

Drip tubing and individual emitters is the most expensive route and also the least flexible when it comes to moving or using with different crops. But it is also considered the most efficient for water conservation and effective delivery to the plant.

"How do I know how much is “enough?”

Plant performance just as always and practice and monitoring. There is no set schedule or amount of time for any of them just as there is no set schedule for any form of watering. Plus they are buried under mulch, can't be seen so you monitor the soil moisture at the root level with your fingers just as we do with any method.

" how do I efficiently drip irrigate when the area is covered in vines?"

Normally one doesn't water the vines only the roots. And water diffuses out as well as down. Most garden vegetable roots are within a 6-10" area around the plant so any drip irrigation system is usually set up approximately 4" away from the stems of the plants. Larger plants may require a double-banded drip system, one set up on each side.

" in my mind, means I can apply water faster, but must put the drippers closer together to get proper penetration of water."

Not with drip. All drip systems are intentionally slow delivery and the average is no more than 1/2 gph (1/2 gallon per hour). They are not intended for fast delivery but effective delivery where needed with little to no waste. So they will generally need to run for several hours but use much less water doing so.

I too live on a well and while I don't personally have any problems as you describe it is because I have multiple storage tanks. What you describe sounds more like a low capacity storage problem to me. Only 1 tank? Have you considered just adding an additional storage tank or increasing the size of your tank in your system to eliminate all the problems you've indicated with the household water supply?

Dave

Thanks!

We have a single pressure tank, but it's only a 35G...which means it holds much less. Even taking a shower would run through that, I thought when you had a well, you're relying on the pump to pull it out, and the pressure tank was more of just a buffer.

I've only been on a well a year and a half, so pardon my ignorance.

The drip tape isn’t bad, but with the size of my garden, would still be a decent three-figure investment that my spousal unit will feel is unnecessary for now…but I can start planning.

I don’t have a spigot near my garden. It’s almost 200’ from the nearest spigot, so I have 2 100’ hoses connected together right now. Would a “regular” hose be able to connect to a dripworks type system on an as-needed basis, or should I be preparing to run a water line down there?

Sorry Stu's comments weren't there when I was typing above. Same time probably.

No pump only kicks on when the tank is empty and shuts off when the float in the tank indicates full. Of course if you are running a 35 gal tank continuously (like doing laundry) then the pump is running continuously too and that can burn up the pump. You can easily use up 35 gallons just with 2 loads of laundry.

You might want to set up a consult with your local well man, especially if you can find out who installed t. He can tell you the hp of your pump but it is the size of the storage tank that is your real problem. 50 gallon minimum is the norm and multiple 50 gallon tanks (at least 2) is the ideal not only for use but to extend the life of the pump.

Dave

Our pump is a 3/4 hp, I think. We replaced it under a year ago. Well is 330'.

I don't have a drip system, but I think if I were to install one I would do it in stages. In the first year I would do the crop that would benefit most from the system. In the next year... ditto... 3rd year, and so on... That way it's an investment, but not a large outlay. I would also consider rain barrels, filters, and a small pump to take some load off the well.

So – I think drip may work. I assume the 1000’, 6000’, whatever lengths are cuttable to any size? The “mainline” tubing connects different sections, without water dripping along the connection to another area, is that right?

So does that mean I can have a system that can be re-assembled, or are the fittings “one and done?” In other words, can you remove, and reuse the same fittings?

I’d like to be able to at least somewhat reconfigure often, to rotate crops, etc. And remove for winter, and to allow for tilling, amending, etc.

It seems difficult to tell how far the water “spreads”, though. In freshly tilled soil, I assume it won’t really spread much at all. I can try the “pinhole in a water bottle” trick I read about, but the soil has to be pretty dry for that to work, doesn’t it?

I have no issue dragging the hose down and screwing it in, as needed, especially since the spousal unit doesn’t want a hose lying on the lawn all summer.

Eventually, I may see what it would cost to have a buried copper waterline run down there. What keeps me from doing that is, I may relocate the veggie garden at some point in the future.

Fittings should be reused. Some reuse the driptape but I only reuse last year's tape in exposed areas like next to raspberries where water output isn't very important. If your water has any sediment it will block driptape eventually, even with a sediment filter. Usually one season is no problem if tape is laid with emiter openings facing up.

I have garden hose buried just under ground and just use air to blow water out each Fall so water isn't in line over winter. You would not want to use copper water line even if buried below frost line. It is too expensive. Plastic composite lines are used in many applications.

I have use various emiter spacing on driptape from 8" to 14" and tend to prefer to closer spacing for a variety of crops but it is not an important choice. I've purchased 2 rolls of tape at auctions that were 12" and 14" spacing and that worked fine. I currently use different spacing tape types on tomato crop rows just because I rolled out the tape from two rolls at one time from a single shaft.

Suggest you request a supply catalog from Nolts Produce Supply, Leola, PA. Many of the fittings are outlined there.

This is mostly conceptual, as the budget doesn’t allow for it…

Here was something I was trying to figure out. Has anyone tried this?

Get large rainwater tank. Like in the 1000 – 10,000 gallon range.

Install a pump in the rainwater system.

Set up drip irrigation system.

Use the rainwater tank/pump, but have a “backup” that, if the tank is too empty, the system automatically detects this, and there is a relay switch that can switch to the public/well water source.

In my climate, I could, in theory, collect enough rain to pull this off, only having to switch to the well during long dry spells and droughts (but using the rainwater up to that point would put far less stress on the groundwater).

I’m ten years from this, but was curious.

I've talked with people who have collected rainwater in catch basins that drain into tanks. It can be as simple as laying a very large sheet of plastic sloped to a buried tank.

I use a 3000 gal tank many summers to fertigate but I just fill it with well water as needed to gravity feed to driplines after mixing in fertilizer. Often I'll fill and drain a dozen times before we get a substantial rainfall. I don't know if an automated system is needed. One just switches the system as water is required. On most days I'm closing and opening valves many times as I hand water potted plants and switch drip lines to three high tunnels and outside rows of plants. I don't like to water more than 800 row feet of driplines at a time so I'm also close sing and opening dripline header valves. That's just part of a typical Day's schedule.

So as an experiment, I am using my cheap soaker hose to water.

After running about two hours, its only wet on the soil surface in an area about 8 inches wide total, about 4 inches on either side of the hose. Which tells me I'll have to space my drip irrigation very close together to have any effect, right?

Yes, if you need full area coverage vs running it down individual plant rows. For me in my raised beds I have the 6" emitter spacing and the hoses are 6" from the side, then 12" to next hose, then 12" to next hose (which is 6" from other side. My beds are divided into 3'x3' squares so I run 3 hoses 3' long for each square. Dipping my fingers down a couple inches show full wetting of soil- but the top looks like it is wet in strips along the hose with dry strips midway between the hoses.

Everything is in double rows, and I was running everything between them. Perhaps not the best set up if I'm using drip, but it seems to save a little bit of space.

Sounds like it should work- the roots always seem to know how to find the water hehe!

How do you handle fertilization? Should it be basically all be put right under the emitters/tape, so the "cone" of moisture distributes it most efficiently?

You could do either. I broadcast fertilizer preplant but also put CaNO3 in dripline during season. You should avoid a phosphate soluble fertilizer if you have hard water unless you lower water pH. The CaPO4 precipitate will block emitters.

Hardness is around 12 gh if I'm using the right scale. PH out of the tap is around 6.6.

i have a well with a small pressure tank. no problem running drip irrigation through a couple of hundred feet of garden hose.