Drip irrigation system recomendations please

[zman]

I am going to be out of town for a week at the end of august and i am looking into getting a drip irrigation system to water my hops while I am out of town. I am growing in containers (homer buckets) I would love to know what people are using for their setups.

Thanks,
Z

 

[azscoob]

how crazy do you want to get? my entire yard is fully automated irrigation. sprinklers go on when I want and how often I want for as long as I want, same for drip irrigation, I have 4 different valves that can all be operated independantly of all the others so I can put the right amount of water exactly where and when I need it. after installing a simple system at my mother-in-laws in Chicago I found that most of what we have a whole asle of at the home depot, they have almost nothing there. I would go with a hose connected timer unit and a pressure reducer to drop line pressure to about 30psi, run a half inch trunk line from that to your plants, from the trunk line add the dripper lines to the plants and toss on appropriate gph rated flag drippers that will get you close to your watering volume you are currently using based on the time set on the timer.

 

[zman]

how crazy do you want to get? my entire yard is fully automated irrigation. sprinklers go on when I want and how often I want for as long as I want, same for drip irrigation, I have 4 different valves that can all be operated independantly of all the others so I can put the right amount of water exactly where and when I need it. after installing a simple system at my mother-in-laws in Chicago I found that most of what we have a whole asle of at the home depot, they have almost nothing there. I would go with a hose connected timer unit and a pressure reducer to drop line pressure to about 30psi, run a half inch trunk line from that to your plants, from the trunk line add the dripper lines to the plants and toss on appropriate gph rated flag drippers that will get you close to your watering volume you are currently using based on the time set on the timer.

Not that crazy. I have 5 hop plants in buckets and a small vegetable garden in the back yard. I am thinking that I just want to do the drip system for the hops. We have a friend that is going to water the vegetable garden for use but she will most likely do it in the evenings after work.

 

[HoppyDaze]

throw a couple milk jugs filled with water on them ....

a couple pin holes in each one and you should be fine. Test to make sure the water doesnt drain too fast though

 

[david_42]

Just get a starter kit with 2 gph emitters. Hook it up to an extra hose and have your friend turn it on when she comes in and off when she leaves. You hops should be mostly grown by then and the water requirements won't be too high.

I use 1 gph emitters and water 3-12 hours a week depending on the growth stage and temperature.

 

[Retrofit]

I think HoppyDaze is right if you want a quick fix/short solution. Any sort of container with a pin hole will drip water for a few a days. Bee Keepers do the same thing to supply water/sugar for bees. But I digress. I have all the parts, off a home depot shelf, to set up a battery powered timer that is on/off for soaker hoses. Currently the soaker hoses are run to my houses water, but the plan is to hook the hoses through the timer to rain barrels on the side of the house. I'm a homebrewer, which means I'm a cheap bastard. I'm not paying the city for water if I don't have to! All the trenches are dug, all the materials are bought, I just have to put it together.

I think a battery powered on/off bought at a home improvement store controling a soaker hose would be a step up from a drip container system. Both are affordable.

 

[Damonic]

Here's another vote for the KISS method. I would stress PIN-holes and no larger unless you need it. Fill em' up and see how well they water well before your trip so you know what's gonna happen.

If you want to go a little nicer you could do what I did. $15 clearance drip kit from Menards attached to a rain barrel. If your hops are near a downspout you can collect the rainwater and automatically water your hops for free. My system is working great so far.

 

[COLObrewer]

Does everyone else water their hops more than once a week?

 

[Damonic]

Mine are drip irrigated for 8+ hours daily.

 

[Retrofit]

When my drip system is done it sounds like it will be similar to Damonic, so my long answer is yes, they will be watered daily. However it will be a low level of water, keeping the soil moist, not drowning them.

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

I think HoppyDaze is right if you want a quick fix/short solution. Any sort of container with a pin hole will drip water for a few a days. Bee Keepers do the same thing to supply water/sugar for bees. But I digress. I have all the parts, off a home depot shelf, to set up a battery powered timer that is on/off for soaker hoses. Currently the soaker hoses are run to my houses water, but the plan is to hook the hoses through the timer to rain barrels on the side of the house. I'm a homebrewer, which means I'm a cheap bastard. I'm not paying the city for water if I don't have to! All the trenches are dug, all the materials are bought, I just have to put it together.

I think a battery powered on/off bought at a home improvement store controling a soaker hose would be a step up from a drip container system. Both are affordable.

I may be wrong, but I don't think rain barrels will provide enough pressure for a soaker hose to function properly.

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

Does everyone else water their hops more than once a week?

Once a week, to 1 inch of water per plant.

Check teh website of the manufacturer of your sprinkler head to verify flow rate. I use the traveling tractor. Easy peasy and 1 Inch every time.

 

[Retrofit]

I may be wrong, but I don't think rain barrels will provide enough pressure for a soaker hose to function properly.

I water my lawn with a soaker hose backed by 3 55 gallon barrels. I agree the water pressure is amazingly low, but it will flow through the hose and it will leak out the hose. It's a bonafide DRIP system. What I do is leave it on a LONG time. The water is free, so what do I care?

I agree that if you wanted to use rain water and have anything similar to water pressure from the tap, you need to install a pump. I also think you would pump so much water so fast you burn through your rain barrel system FAST and be very frustrated and surprised at how much water you use and take for granted, but I digress.

All my rain barrel systems are gravity fed, they have a large number of barrels working together (which contributes water weight to the flow) and I've had no issues.

Edit: I've never had a single barrel system (55 gallons), when I think about it I agree that 55 gallons of water may barely creep out of a soaker hose. My first system was 3 barrels and my second when done will be 7 barrels. I have a third that will be 6 barrels when done. So again water weight pushes my system and I've had good flow/no issues.

 

[RDWHAHB]

Number of barrels is irrelevant to the pressure (weight) on the drip line. All that matters is height above the drippers. More barrels just gives more capacity.

 

[Gridlocked]

There are companies that make battery powered valves that work like light timers for your house that automatically turn your lights on and off at specific times. You can screw the valve onto the boiler drain (spigot) and turn the water on. It will release the water to the hose whenever it is set to do so and shut off accordingly.

There are a few manufacturers that make nice, very simple "Micro Kits" that are REALLY easy to use. LIKE THIS

I purchased a kit for my mothers plants a few years ago and she loves it. You could also do a pressure compensating drip line - which is what I use for my gardens:
http://www.plumbersurplus.com/Prod/Rain-Bird-ET63918-100-Landscape-Dripline-System-1-2-Inch-Emitter-Tubing-With-18-Inch-Spacing-100-Foot-Roll/109867/Cat/1369?utm_medium=referral&utm_source=googlebase&cvsfa=63&cvsfe=2&cvsfhu=313039383637

 

[Damonic]

... I agree that if you wanted to use rain water and have anything similar to water pressure from the tap, you need to install a pump. I also think you would pump so much water so fast you burn through your rain barrel system FAST and be very frustrated and surprised at how much water you use and take for granted, but I digress...

Bingo. A pump is just a bad idea with a rain barrel, you'll empty it/them in no time. When I was setting mine up my drip kit only came with 1gph and 2gph emitters. I realized that with 7 rhizomes I was going to empty my 55 gallon barrel in less than a day even with the 1gph emitters. However, that was 1gph at 15psi line pressure which the barrel wouldn't be anywhere near.

Long story short, my 1gph emitters barely drip with the rain barrel spigot at half open. I haven't connected the downspout to the barrel yet so I'm filling it up manually with a hose about once a week. My rough calculations show the emitters are dripping about 1 gallon a DAY per plant (~.08gph). That seems like just enough to keep the area moist without drowning them. I planted 7 different rhizomes and have 7 plants growing away so its working so far.

 

[sarah_ryan1]

If you trying to consider more barrels then it occupies more capacity so just try to use the proper pressure pump.

 

[SAMPLER]

Anyone care to post pics of your barrel setups with hoses and connectors?
This would made a good DIY tutorial... for dummies like me

 

[Gridlocked]

I'll take pics when I set up my garden in the spring.

 

[Retrofit]

Yesterday I tripped and kicked the nozzel off my rain barrels sending 150 gallons of water at my feet. I need to fix my set up before I take pictures of it.

 

[Stevo2569]

Any pics of you guys setup. I'm working on a gravity drip irrigation system.

 

[day_trippr]

I checked what I have for pics and this is the best I've got.

I put it together from a pair of Toro starter kits like this one that I picked up at Home Depot

and run it using a battery powered programmable valve that I got at Ace Hardware

I use the 2gallon per hour emitters, one per plant.

The whole setup was stupid easy to put together and run...

Cheers!

 

[Stevo2569]

I checked what I have for pics and this is the best I've got.

I put it together from a pair of Toro starter kits like this one that I picked up at Home Depot

and run it using a battery powered programmable valve that I got at Ace Hardware

I use the 2gallon per hour emitters, one per plant.

The whole setup was stupid easy to put together and run...

Cheers!

Thanks for the reply. How much was the electric valve?

 

[day_trippr]

Thanks for the reply. How much was the electric valve?

iirc, it was around $29. I've seen some cheaper but those used a clockwork and I preferred a fully digital model...

Cheers!