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water Poor Mans Irrigation System

AJ doesnt the Homest of Depots have the irrigation heads to plug into those ? I've been putting thte same idea off for the year but when I was looking they have these
 
they do have the emitters but I don't really think I need them...the 1/8" holes work like a charm...
 
looks good - I was going for the emitters because of local and ease of plant location yours are in a nice row (nice engineering btw ;)) I have other plants on my pergola, garage planters etc... its always nice to see other simpler ideas instead of over thinking it
 
Great setup AJ! I've got the majority of my plants on a system and a good number on a timer. It makes the garden so much more enjoyable, and the plants are happy with a regular schedule. I may try the PVC route next time I set one up. Does the water pool up a bit and soak the whole pot in your setup? I use mini sprinklers in a fast draining mix and they don't always water uniformly. I've started moving the sprinklers around the containers every few weeks and sometimes use second per container. When I saw your setup I remembered some research that they did in China on "alternate partial root-zone irrigation":
http://jxb.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/55/407/2437
The above is not the link I remember, but it's about the same idea. Basically they were trying to conserve water by watering on side of the root-zone independently of the other. I think your setup could be doubled up with a different purpose. If you had two independent lines you could provide more uniform watering and also adjust for pressure loss by having the alternate pipes running in different directions. I'm not trying to say there's a need to improve on your system, but there's some neat things that could be done with two per container. Maybe one could even put some dividers in the pot and try the partial drying experiment...
Thanks again for posting all your great setups.
 
LUCKYDOG said:
looks good - I was going for the emitters because of local and ease of plant location yours are in a nice row (nice engineering btw ;)) I have other plants on my pergola, garage planters etc... its always nice to see other simpler ideas instead of over thinking it
Click to expand...

thanks LD....I had thought about the emitters, but was unsure of the pressure available at the end of the run...may not be enough pressure to open the emitters...haven't done the research to know how much pressure is required to open them, just a shot in the dark thought I had...as far as the straight rows go...I really like things orderly...whether or not they are is another subject... :lol:


ZanderSpice said:
Great setup AJ! I've got the majority of my plants on a system and a good number on a timer. It makes the garden so much more enjoyable, and the plants are happy with a regular schedule. I may try the PVC route next time I set one up. Does the water pool up a bit and soak the whole pot in your setup? I use mini sprinklers in a fast draining mix and they don't always water uniformly. I've started moving the sprinklers around the containers every few weeks and sometimes use second per container. When I saw your setup I remembered some research that they did in China on "alternate partial root-zone irrigation":
http://jxb.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/55/407/2437
The above is not the link I remember, but it's about the same idea. Basically they were trying to conserve water by watering on side of the root-zone independently of the other. I think your setup could be doubled up with a different purpose. If you had two independent lines you could provide more uniform watering and also adjust for pressure loss by having the alternate pipes running in different directions. I'm not trying to say there's a need to improve on your system, but there's some neat things that could be done with two per container. Maybe one could even put some dividers in the pot and try the partial drying experiment...
Thanks again for posting all your great setups.
Click to expand...

thanks for the link and thank you...

I scanned the article...read a lot of it...and the main thing is I would doubling the amount of PVC pipe I am using...already using about 180 feet...the PVC pipe itself is not that expensive until you get to the fittings...you have to remember the title of this thread..."Poor" mans irrigation...after three minutes of irrigation through the system, water is seeping out of the bottom of the containers...the water goes into the soil at such a low rate, it completely soaks the whole root ball...or at least that is the way it seems...

I have started planning completing the plans for a total irrigation system which will hopefully be complete by the middle of August...whether or not that is a real date remains to be seen...when I set up the PVC pipe, I am essentially limiting myself to a specific plant spacing...as you know, some plants need more room than others do, so I am tying myself down to specific plant types where ever I run the irrigation...I am happy so far with the way things are set up no...I am sure there will be a lot of tweaking to the design....I already know I need to change up the timers and add another couple of "timed" circuits...
 
decided to put in some more irrigation since the first experiment passed with flying colors...decided to drop the pipe diameter to 1/2" for more pressure...I was supplying a 3/4" line with a 5/8" hose so a definite pressure drop is noticed...figured that dropping the pipe diameter will drastically improve the pressure at the end of the run...

080310a001.jpg


and a closer shot of the hardware layout for one section...will be making it one section at a time...

080310a002.jpg

when the section is finished, it will look like this (Hopefully)....each line will be for 10 plants on a 21" center....so this is 40 plants...if this works well, I will make two more sections today...

irrigationsection.jpg
 
Wow seems like it's going very well. I really need to buy a house with a yard. I'm limited to about 10 plants on the patio since I moved to a bigger place..
 
all a bigger place is LGHT is more work...

ok...finished the first section...

shot of the front manifold where the water hooks up to a QD.....

080310b001.jpg


shot of other end manifold after the water has washed out the pipe...

080310b003.jpg


close up shot of one of the containers....

080310b005.jpg


what it looks like from the patio...

080310b006.jpg


that does it for me today...temp out is already 104F/40C.....gonna take a refreshing dip in the pool to cool off...then come inside for the coolness of air conditioning...
 
Dang AJ, you got me thinking of making a simple irrigation system for my raised beds! What is the timer kit costing you?
 
the timer is the most expensive thing...50 bucks...it is a 4 channel (sections) that can be set for three times a day...you can set each channel independant of the others...if you get one, you will need two more valves...you need a valve per section...it only comes with two....valves are $15 each, so a total kit for 4 sections is $80....fittings and pipe are cheap...
 
wow
Now you don't have to go outside when the plants need watered, but sometimes you still do. Just for fun and grins.
Your my idol AJ. :cheers:
 
Absolutely love that setup! I'm doing doing something like that next year. I can't stand the watering process sometimes. Especially when I'm running late.
 
got home yesterday after being gone since thursday morning and I will tell you...I don't have to worry about my plants when I need to go somewhere now...the system worked like a charm...this is the first time I have been gone 4 days in a row since I started growing peppers and I was so worried about them all weekend...but to my surprize, everything worked as it was supposed to...will be installing one more section today or tomorrow with about 50-60 plants...

glad you all like the set up...it saves me a lot of time...
 
I was away for 4 days a week or so ago and most of my plants got so dry that now they're yellow. I thought it was supposed to rain I guess. Oh well ... they'll be ok.
I'm glad you were able to escape for a while. That's something.
 
well after a couple of weeks using the system with just holes drilled in it, I can see now that it just won't work when you are trying to give each plant the same amount of water/fertilize...so I ordered 300 drip emitters (1 GPH PC Rainbirds) and got 150 of them installed yesterday...they work like they should...each emitter whether at the start of the run or at the end of a run puts out 1 Tablespoon (15 ml) of water every 13-14 seconds...

got another 150 to install today...then the next thing to be added is the fertilize injector...different thread I know, but I am leaning towards the EZ Flow siphon injection system...
 
Pressure isn't the only requirement in an irrigation system. You also need volume. You lose a TON of volume due to friction loss in 1/2" PVC. Your pressure will develop once it's necked down to 1/4" drip tubing

Be careful running fertilizer through emitters, because the will clog like hell. I have a loop setup like yours, but I used 3/4" PVC tubing instead of hard PVC. I just use 1/4" drip tubing with no emitters. It's completely trouble free
 
flow (volume) is not an issue...just checked to make sure I remembered correctly and unrestricted flow out of the faucet is 5 gpm exactly...so thats 300 gallon per hour...

most of my runs are 40-50 1 gph emitters...so that flow will be 40-50 gallons per hour...

I should be ok...like I said...so far, all the drippers are putting out the same..

thanks for the heads up on clogging...

just ordered a 3 gallon EZ Flow unit...

http://www.sprinklerwarehouse.com/2030-HB-EZ-Flo-3-Gallon-Hose-Bib-Drip-System-p/2030-hb.htm
 
for those of you that have followed this thread with interest in doing something similar...let me pass on some lessons learned...

first of all...just drilling holes in the PVC is just OK...all the plants get water but none of them get the same amount so I put 1 GPH Pressure Compensated drippers in all the holes I had drilled....dang what a task...I had to redrill all the holes, tap the holes with a 10/32 tap, the screw in the emitters...just finished installing 300 yesterday...

about the jerry rigged manifold I first built...here is a pic...this worked well for a couple of days...

081710b003.jpg


then the "Y" connectors started busting loose from the constant pressure and hammer effect f the valves turning on and off...here are pics of the pieces of crap I started with...IMO these are pieces of crap made by LR Nelson company...I sent a scathing review to them and to Home Depot...Home Depot declined to post my review because of "improper" content...there was no profanity used...just strong language about the inferior quality of this product...the crimping that held the male end of the hose on isn't strong enough to stand constant normal water pressure and simply let go...luckily I was home when each of them busted and was able to turn the water supply off....

closer view of the "Y"s

082410b002.jpg


so I had to do something that would not break...usually that means me building something and that is exactly what I did...I built a 4 outlet manifold and it works like a charm...

082510a004.jpg


I am happy with the new set up...
 
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