drip irrigation conundrum

[HItransplant]

I recently applied a drip irrigation system to my holdings hop plant.

the system is simple. pressure reducer to micro line, spilt into 4 1GPM emitters.

My hop plant is in a large planter... maybe 15-20 gallons.

after 30 min of watering, the surface is still bone dry while water is draining out of the bottom of the planter.

my question:
is this because I have too much flow from the emitters? Should I reduce to one 1 GPM emitter?

Im wondering if this is like a stuck mash caused by the valve being opened too fast/much, where water is tunneling vs soaking.

thoughts?

 

[Chrisl77]

Maybe try increasing the flow and lowering the time. I use these on my drip system for my hops and they work well. I can adjust them from a nice stream down to a slow drip.

 

[theredben]

It has to do with the soil structure. If you want the plant to be wetter, then you would want to water more frequently, but for shorter durations. This would give the soil more of a chance to absorb the water. Either way, the plants are likely getting enough moisture.

 

[strumke]

You really want to develop the root structure and not encourage weeds. Ideally, you wet all of the soil through, and then don't water until the top few inches gets dry. You can reduce the flow and leave it longer, you can also water and then take a break for a bit and water again. That will help the soil absorb more.

Less frequent deep waterings are preferred to more frequesnt shallow waterings in most cases (unless the plant has very shallow roots)

 

[cram]

I think what's happening is the water is flowing straight down through your soil beneath the the emitters--kind of like the channeling that can happen when fly-sparging wort. In other words, the water is finding a straight path through the soil down from the emitters, not saturating all of the soil in your pot. I don't think this is a huge problem, in that the hop roots will find the water. Although a better spread pattern would likely yield better results. For my drips I like the roundish-looking adjustable 0-10 GPM emitters. They send out five or six streams out of the emitter, and based on what you set the flow rate to (and the pressure of your system), one can send out these streams of water to cover two foot in diameter. They tend to be a little more expensive than the 1 GPM emitters but when you figure that you need much less of them (and if you buy them in bulk), I figure it's cheaper and works better in the end. Plus, they're easy to adjust to find that magic combo of flow rate per time on. Good luck!

 

[JRems]

If you want a more even dispersement of water instead of drip emmiters they also sell misting emitters that spray. Either that or put a bag of dense topsoil on top. It will absorb water like a sponge and stop the water from channeling through. What kind of media are you growing in? Planters should really have potting mix. It sounds like you probably have a soil problem if it's not absorbing the water.

 

[kellanv]

1 GPH emitters are likely not all that overkill. We use 2 GPH ones on our grapes with little issue. I think your biggest culprit is the soil your hops are growing within. If its loose with a high sand/mineral content rather than something more composted/loam based it will cause water to filter through quickly and not absorb into surrounding soil. The good news about this type of soil however is the fact that it will reduce the chances of root rot/anoxia which hops tend to be prone to.

I would mulch/compost the top to help some retention and reduce the percolation speed and water more often.

 

[HItransplant]

Thanks for all the replies everyone.. very helpful.

I think what's happening is the water is flowing straight down through your soil beneath the the emitters--kind of like the channeling that can happen when fly-sparging wort. In other words, the water is finding a straight path through the soil down from the emitters, not saturating all of the soil in your pot. I don't think this is a huge problem, in that the hop roots will find the water. Although a better spread pattern would likely yield better results. For my drips I like the roundish-looking adjustable 0-10 GPM emitters. They send out five or six streams out of the emitter, and based on what you set the flow rate to (and the pressure of your system), one can send out these streams of water to cover two foot in diameter. They tend to be a little more expensive than the 1 GPM emitters but when you figure that you need much less of them (and if you buy them in bulk), I figure it's cheaper and works better in the end. Plus, they're easy to adjust to find that magic combo of flow rate per time on. Good luck!

this is what I was trying to describe with the tunneling. Water isnt soaking in, just running down through channels.

If you want a more even dispersement of water instead of drip emmiters they also sell misting emitters that spray. Either that or put a bag of dense topsoil on top. It will absorb water like a sponge and stop the water from channeling through. What kind of media are you growing in? Planters should really have potting mix. It sounds like you probably have a soil problem if it's not absorbing the water.

1 GPH emitters are likely not all that overkill. We use 2 GPH ones on our grapes with little issue. I think your biggest culprit is the soil your hops are growing within. If its loose with a high sand/mineral content rather than something more composted/loam based it will cause water to filter through quickly and not absorb into surrounding soil. The good news about this type of soil however is the fact that it will reduce the chances of root rot/anoxia which hops tend to be prone to.

I would mulch/compost the top to help some retention and reduce the percolation speed and water more often.

Im using a mix of potting soil, potting compost, and sand (because my first year I had trouble with fungus gnats)... which leads nicely into the last quote-- I think you guys are both on the problem. The sand I added to keep things from staying wet, over corrected.

I think ill look for the different emitters.. then I can maybe meet somewhere in the middle.


thanks again!