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formerly RGG

I am trying to develop a lot better watering system for my melons for next season.I have been hand watering and it takes too much time plus it gets my leaves wet.I am planning on twelve 55 gallon drums on my front patio connected with PVC pipe for a reservoir. I will tap into my house guttering to help fill them when it rains. I will put cutoffs at each barrel so I will be able to open up 2 barrels at a time and water an individual hill with up to 110 gallons.I am using my front patio as it is a lot higher than my back yard and should help to give me adequate water pressure without using a pump. I am using 3/4" PVC and thinking about making the watering pipes a little over 15' long and spacing them about 2' apart and perhaps spacing drilled water holes about every 12". I need input and recommendations on this though. I want to know if parallel pipes 2' apart is a good distance and a water emitting drip hole drilled every 12" is adequate for covering most of the root system. I have heard 1/16 " drilled holes are good. Thanks for any and all advice.

11/6/2011 12:14:11 PM

Www.extremepumpkinstore.com

Have you seen the irrigation system listed on the Extreme Pumpkin Store?
Dozens of growers have been extremely successful using it. Uniformed, Complete Coverage.

11/6/2011 12:30:39 PM

Www.extremepumpkinstore.com

ah, i just reread this, without a pump or some form of pressure, the Dan Micro heads wouldnt work for you.

11/6/2011 12:47:41 PM

Cleveland, Tenn

Hi TD , Have you given T-Tape any thought for your irrigation? It takes very little pressure, waters evenly, very quick and easy to set up and may be cheaper in long run than PVC. I've used it for years and it works great for me. I don't think you will need a pump either. Gravity feed should be all you need. It is easy to set up individual zones with this system also. Give me a call if you want at 423-479-7123. Good luck, Craig

11/6/2011 1:42:38 PM

Garner, NC

Hey Dennis, Was just wondering why use alot of barrels, that seems to be more work than hand watering. I'm on a well, so i don't buy water, but i checked and city water here is $3.80 per CCF. A CCF is 748 gals. If you watered 6 plants at 50gal per day, thats 300gal per day, which is less than $2 My suggestion would be to pipe into a water line with your pvc, buy a 3 zone timer and use T-tape. Saves a ton of time, and allows you to be doing other things. If you go with the barrel idea, I would pray for rain, and go with T-tape like Craig said, way cheaper than PVC.

11/6/2011 4:54:06 PM

Bowdon, GA

Can you run liquid ferts through t-tape? Where do you get it?

11/6/2011 5:42:43 PM

Bowdon, GA

Oh, Dennis I have used similar gravity fed pvc pipes for fertilizing The problem I had was the holes didn't distribute evenly unless they were perfectly level.

11/6/2011 5:46:40 PM

formerly RGG

Todd, I want to be able to let the water sit for a day before I use it so I want the barrels as storage containers. I can also easily add whatever I want to the water. Sitting will give time for the chlorine and fluoride to evaporate from it.I am on a hill and T-tape is flexible so I could not level it. PVC being rigid I think I will be able to make it completely level so that the water runs out at an even rate through the entire system. I will build an individual system for each hill. I am not worried about the cost of water just the quality of it.

11/6/2011 6:13:18 PM

formerly RGG

Jake, I know you are correct about the system having to be level. I intend on making it level. That is why I will use rigid pipe instead of something flexible.

11/6/2011 6:14:54 PM

sevierville, Tn

i think the tape would work better on your hill since it will work at a lower pressure then the pvc system. I have had problems with watering with pvc if the pressure wasn't enough to over come the slope. The reason i don't use tape is the minerals in my water would clog it.

11/6/2011 7:32:52 PM

Muddy Waters

I use rain barrels & pump out with a sump pump,this only does about 10% to 15% of my watering.

11/6/2011 8:03:24 PM

formerly RGG

Chris, my front porch is probably between 15 and 20 feet above the top of my garden. I think I will get plenty of pressure. If not I will add a pump to my new system. I am not sure about using tape. I agree with Jake that the system has to be perfectly level to distribute water evenly and I think level would be difficult to achieve with drip tape. The PVC is a lot more rigid and I will prop it a little if I need to to achieve level. But I am hoping to terrace my dirt and get very close to level that way.

11/6/2011 9:42:18 PM

formerly RGG

That is exactly what I am thinking Mark. I mean that I will get about 10 or 15% from rainwater. The rest will come from the tap and I will be able to dechlorinate my tap water by holding it in the barrels. I am going to start with twelve 55 gallon drums and I can add to that if I need more. But I think that up to 110 gallons per plant per watering will be plenty. I will divide my garden into 6 spaces for 6 plants this coming year and so there will be two barrels available per plant.

11/6/2011 9:49:13 PM

formerly RGG

But what I really want to know is how far apart do you other growers space your tubing or pipe ? And also how far apart should the water emitting holes be drilled. I am planning on using a 1/16 drill bit as I have heard this size recommended.

11/6/2011 9:51:52 PM

formerly RGG

Todd, there will be some initial expense and several hours of work to put this system together. But once it is in place it will be very easy to water my plants. And I will no longer be watering by hand for several hours each day. And I will not be walking on and packing my garden soil nearly as much as I was before.All I will have to do is turn some valves after adding whatever I wish to my water. And after I finish I will simply turn a garden hose on to fill the barrels back up. I am putting shutoff valves on every barrel so that I will be able to measure out a barrel or two per plant without standing there watching the water level fall.I think I will have lots of hours back to worry about how I can possibly beat a great grower like yourself. lol

11/6/2011 9:59:43 PM

formerly RGG

Tom,I viewed your system and it is very nice.I am sure it will serve lots of growers very well. I am going to develop my own system though. It is a fun project for me and I think I will be proud of the outcome as I have not previously done anything like this. I am taking my time and thinking and planning and using quality materials and I am sure I will be able to develop a well functioning system tailored to what I think I need for my plants and my particular landscape.

11/6/2011 10:21:06 PM

Corryton, TN

Jake, I get my ferts for drip tape from a local greenhouse supply house. Down side is its a little more pricey. Ask for greenhouse grade fert, it wont clog emmitters. Dissolve what you need in water, run it through system then continue with clean water.

By using drip I feel better about not carrying any bad stuff from last years patch into this years patch. Don't know if it can be, just don't want to chance it.

TD spacing will depend on soil. Water will flow alomst strait down in a narrow cylinder in sand and a wide area in clay. I move my tapes all the time until I'm satisfied or the vines cover them. If you need to add a tape or two its quite easy with drip. Wouldn't want to try it with PVC. Moving tapes also helps keep the bottom of the fruit dry.

11/7/2011 7:22:04 AM

Bowdon, GA

Dave, I know you grow commercial crops did you go to the sunbelt expo this year? There were a lot of vendors there with drip compatible ferts some really interesting stuff. Do you get the tape itself from the greenhouse supply?

11/7/2011 10:07:56 AM

Ut

TD I’ve learned from using drip systems that the physics of plumbing is not as straight forward as you would hope. As it turns out only so much water can run through a certain diameter of pipe regardless of pressure, which it sounds like you will have very little of.

What could turn into a real nightmare for you is if you have more holes, or too big of holes for your line to feed evenly.

How to test this: Once you have a couple of barrels in place (do it now so you can decide early if you want to go through with it) hook them up to the diameter of hose you will be running to the patch(diameter is important). At the patch or at the same elevation as the patch run this hose into a 5 gallon bucket and time how long it takes to fill it. Make sure you know where the 5 gallon mark is. Do it a couple times to make sure it’s accurate. Now do a little math to figure your GPH(gallons per hour). That is the most you’ll ever get out of it so you don’t want more holes in the PVC than this can handle.

11/7/2011 11:39:04 AM

Ut

Now hook it up to a test PVC and drill just one hole. Time the water coming out of that hole and with a little math you’ll know the GPH of that emitter hole. Now with some more math you’ll know how many holes you can drill. If that does not allow for you to cover the area you want then you either need to drill smaller holes and water longer, or you need to divide the watering zone and share it with another couple barrels. You might also decide it’s not going to work and you can pull the plug.

For example if you decide you’re getting 300 GPH out of the barrels, and your emitter hole puts out 1 gallon per hour, then you can have no more than 300 of these holes. It doesn’t matter if you are actually going to run for a whole hour of not (I know you only have 110 gallons). If you have more than 300 holes then some of the holes will not put out as much water as the rest or might not put out any water at all if it is severe. Now you know how many holes you can have and you have to decide if you can distribute those holes over the area you want, and still water to the depth you want, and also soak between the pvc lines appropriately. If you cannot then it’s better to know this before you’ve laid it all out and drilled all your holes!

That’s a mouthful but I hope it helps.

11/7/2011 11:39:17 AM

formerly RGG

Thanks for the very informative post WD. I appreciate this answer as I think it will help keep me on the right path toward a good working system. Perhaps I will need to add an electric water pump to the system to get my flow rate up to a point that assures good even coverage to each hill.

11/7/2011 12:08:15 PM

Corryton, TN

Jake, didn't go to expo. Keep threatening to but haven,t made it. Good supply house has access to just about anything you might want, you may have to order it. I order drip tape from a supplier in NC if its a large order. A single roll is picked up at a co-op near by where they stock it for other growers. Price is still quite competitive there.

11/7/2011 12:42:21 PM

Bowdon, GA

Thanks Dave, if you do go next year make it 2 days. I just went for thursday and didn't have time to see much of it.

11/7/2011 4:01:53 PM

formerly RGG

I think some of you growers who are a lot smarter than I am have talked me into going with the T-tape. Dave, please let me know which co-op you use and the specific roll of product I need to purchase (mil thickness and emitter spacing). My soil is clay that is fairly well loosened up with organic matter and perlite. I will go with whatever specific one you recommend. Should one roll be enough to cover 6 or perhaps 9 hills ? I am still deciding on how many hills I will grow this coming season.

11/7/2011 7:05:23 PM

formerly RGG

Dave, I found t-tape on eBay for about $201 dollars per roll including shipping. Does the co-op beat this price ?

11/7/2011 7:26:16 PM

Niagara Falls,NY

Try going to growerssupply.com They have alot drip irrigation stuff.Drip tape is 4 cents/ft.Plus other garden/green house supplies.

11/8/2011 10:27:46 AM

Corryton, TN

TD. Grainger Farmers Co-op. I'm going from memory but I think its .45 GPH, 8 mil, it is 12 in spacing. The GPH will be @ 10 psi

If your using barrels you will know how much your putting on each plant. If your tying into utility water you can use the link to help figure out how long to leave the water on. http://www.rainbird.com/ag/reference/calculators.htm

Call me if you have any questions, that goes for anyone 865-548-0959

11/8/2011 12:10:33 PM

formerly RGG

Thanks Dave, you are certainly a big help to other growers. I hope you are willing to go to the trouble of telling us the story of how you raised your giants this past year.

11/8/2011 5:49:17 PM