This post is in partnership withDripWorks . All mentation and quarrel are my own .
In mylast post , I croak over why you should install a drip mould system , what a drip system even was , and what make it a more versatile system than boozer hoses .
Now you ’ll learn how to install drip irrigation in your own arouse layer vegetable garden because in my view , this is one of the most valuablelazy garden strategiesyou can apply in your garden — a strategy that lets you grow more food with less effort !
For most people who have never installed a drip system of rules , opt an all - inclusive garden seam irrigation kit is an ideal way to go . All you need are a few raised beds and a faucet nearby , and you ’ll have everything you want to equip your garden before spring arrives .
Well , notquiteeverything . If you desire to automate your watering , which is belike a major understanding you ’re installing drip in the first station , you ’ll need a separate timer . You may also realise that you still want the pick of water with a hose , and may need to comply with metropolis regulation pertaining to backflow prevention . Backflow bar keeps your irrigation from contaminating the piddle supply . ( To find out if your urban center has a program in place , call the public body of work department or Google your city name plus backflowing prevention . )
These were all of my needs , so the system that DripWorks air me to essay included :
So , what do you get in the garden bed irrigation kit ?
First , there ’s a roll of mainline tubing . This is the sand of your drip irrigation system , which all component attach to and range from .
Similar to the mainline tubing is the micro tube , which is a much flimsy and more compromising variant that serves the same intention of deport water supply to your emitter .
An emitter is the part that then deport water to your plants . Emitters fundamentally dribble water where they ’re placed , and there are several unlike types suit for different areas ( for example , those that drop H2O in the same spot versus those that spray water in all focusing ) .
The kit comes with a pealing of soaker dripline which has emitter built - in to the communication channel every 12 in , so you do n’t need to affix additional part .
At first glimpse , the micro tubing and alcoholic dripline look very similar — just remember that the dripline has hole bore into it .
A imperativeness regulator and home garden filter attache to your faucet to secure the proper stream rate of deposit - free water .
A few unlike types of Easy Loc fittings attach to the mainline tube , allowing you to well connect various branches of tubing together .
The fitting with the green electric switch is an Easy Loc with a shut - off valve , which let you control irrigation to your elicit beds . For example , you may want to keep out off the irrigation to your garlic bed a couple of weeks before harvest , but have the system proceed to water your tomato bed .
When you reach out to the end of the mainline tubing , you but seal off the piddle current with a material body 8 .
Transfer barbs and cubital joint fittings exercise much the same way , only they ’re sized for the smaller strain . These midget connectors enable you to connect the micro tube and downpour dripline to the mainline tubing .
Still with me so far ?
Since the system is fully configurable , you employ the include punch to make a maw in the mainline tubing wherever you require to make a connection .
custody - downs function the same mode garden bet do — they’re meant for batten down all your different tube-shaped structure and lines in the soil .
DripWorks sellsseveral type of timer , from solar - powered to straight - wire to battery - operate , but since this was my first organization , I opt for the fairly dim-witted Galcon Easy Program Flip Open LCD Timer and Galcon LCD Timer .
While both of them do the job , I found the Easy Program timer to be much more intuitive when get at the menu and set my watering docket .
How do you go about choosing the correct mannikin for your garden ? Honestly , I think this is a question advantageously ask of your DripWorks representative , as it depends on your personal need and the frame-up of your system . The two that I drop dead with are the company ’s most popular models , so they seemed a reliable selection .
The plaque void breakers tie to the faucet and part restricts the water air pressure and feed so that your irrigation system does n’t backflow into the water system supply . This is another optional add - on , but may be required by your metropolis .
The brass hose Y enables me to split my faucet into two lines ; one for the trickle organisation and for my garden hosiery . It ’s not part of the kit , but a utile addition if you only have one faucet in the garden .
Before you start up the installation , you should have an melodic theme of how and where you ’ll be melt down all your personal credit line . Gardens with multiple faucets can be separate into multiple zone , which think of you ’d also require multiple timers and vacuum breakers . The zones are independent of one another and can even be installed from the same kit , as long as you have enough adjustment .
Step 1: What are the three sections of a drip irrigation system?
A introductory system comprises three sections : the components on the faucet ( which I ’ll call the faucet fabrication ) , the mainline tubing and micro tube ( which carry body of water from the faucet assembly to the emitters ) , and the emitter ( which in our character is the torrent dripline ) .
The faucet forum is the heart of the drip scheme : It turn the irrigation on and off , control the water insistency , filters debris from the water before it ’s distributed , and prevents backflowing contamination .
The faucet itself ( also called a hose bib ) stay opened all the sentence , so it ’s important to insure that yours is in good working order with no escape .
Step 2: Install the faucet assembly.
You ’ll notice that I have an extra part in mine that ’s not from DripWorks . It ’s aBoogie low water filter , and in myprevious post on compost Camellia sinensis , I mentioned that I have this filter impound to all the spigot in my garden . This is not the same filter ( the bootleg cylinder below ) that comes with the irrigation kit .
If compost afternoon tea is a regular part of your garden routine , Boogie Blue dechlorinates your water so you do n’t inadvertently destroy all the good bacterium you just inoculated your ground with .
I ’ve also burst my faucet into two lines , so the assembly here include a brass hose Y valve .
Starting at the faucet , link up the following parts in this ordering : vacuum breaker , timer , plate garden filter , Boogie Blue water filter ( optional ) , hosepipe Y.
At the hose Y , connect your garden hosepipe to one valve and the pressure governor to the other valve . Attach an Easy Loc female hose start to the governor ; this will eventually plug into the faucet assembly to the mainline tubing .
Step 3: Lay out your mainline tubing.
The mainline tubing is made of conciliatory polythene and comes shipped in a tight roll . I found it easier to solve with once it ’s been unrolled and lead in the sun for a day to slacken the tubing .
Stretch it out across your yard and untwist any kinks in the line of credit as you wander it out . If possible , save the facility for a ardent daylight when the plastic will be a bit more pliable .
When you ’re ready to start tack together , use a pair of tough pair of scissors or garden pruners to turn off the mainline tubing to length . The mass of your time will be spent measuring , cutting , placing , and connect the mainline tubing , as it ’s the primary artery of your system .
For our installation , we cut all the mainline tube and laid them around the garden to estimate the ecumenical flow of the system . We left a little slack in the occupation to give us some flexibility in type we decided to add or remove a “ subdivision . ”
For each raised bottom , we lay a piece of mainline tubing along the shorter side . This mode , our boozer driplines will run along the length of the bed .
While the tube is fairly flexible , you ’ll involve one of the Easy Loc adjustment ( such as an elbow or tee ) if you have to add a branch or make a hard turn in the line .
Easy Loc fittings are compaction fittings , meaning they ’re squeezed into the mainline tubing ( rather than screwed on ) and then tightened in position with a few turns .
If the fitting resists being pushed in ( as it often does on a insensate twenty-four hour period ) , we found it helpful tovery lightlyandvery quicklyheat the tube with a lighter , which expand the credit card just a touch . Take caution not to melt it though !
Here ’s a looking at the mainline tubing fully assembled in a raised layer . We secured the tubing to our bed with a metal angle bracket ( that we already had ) and finally , the tubing outside the bed will be covered withmulchto protect it from the elements . We also equipped each seam with an Easy Loc fitting with a shut - off valve .
Once the mainline tubing is in seat , connect it to the faucet assembly and turn on the water to level out any particles that may have forge their way into the trying on . Then , kink the end and cap it off with a image 8 , which effectively seals it . Turn on the water again and check for any leaks .
On any mainline tubing that you might spread out in the future ( by adding more emitter or driplines ) , you could seal it off with an Easy Loc end cap instead . When you require to branch off or stretch forth the mainline tubing , you could easy remove the end cap and attach the necessary elbow joint , tee , or coupler .
Step 4: Lay out your micro tubing and/or soaker dripline.
Like the mainline tubing , these component should be unrolled and stretched out to relax the lines before you use them .
You may or may not involve the micro tubing , reckon on your garden setup . It serves the same purpose as the mainline tubing , but its thinner size makes it more pliant and manoeuvrable so you may weave it between Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree and bush , for instance , or around containers and bird bath . This lets you place emitter exactly where you require them without watering the spaces in between .
The micro tubing is the same size as the driplines , so you could apply all the small fittings ( transfer shaft , barbed elbows , and goof plug ) interchangeably .
Decide how far apart you want your driplines spaced . For us it was every 10 to 12 in , so we punched a gob in the mainline tubing where we ’d connect a dripline .
Then we cut the driplines to duration . Since the emitter on the driplines are 12 inches apart , we staggered the rail line so that we ’d have emitter every 6 in .
Step 5: Attach the soaker dripline to the mainline tubing.
Insert a goofball chaw to one end of the dripline to seal it , then insert a transfer barb to the other closing and relate it to the mainline tube . ( Oops , did you punch a hole in the wrong place ? No vexation , the buffoon plugs are made for that ! They ’re also ready to hand for plugging cakehole that you no longer take if you absent emitter . )
As above , apply a weak tovery lightlyandvery quicklyheat the hole in the mainline tubing if it feels too wet to fit the transfer barb .
Once the driplines are connect , sour on the water system to ensure all the emitters are work properly .
practice a few hold - downs to fasten the mainline tubing and driplines as take . I usually leave my lines a little loose until I ’ve planted my bed , as I tend to move them around to hold different plant .
If you ’re sow in seeds into your beds , keep in thinker that you ’ll still need to water the bed by hand for the first couple of week until the seedling are build .
Step 6: Set up your timer.
It ’s backbreaking to say how often and how long you should fix your timer for , as it calculate on your soil and mood , the amount of water system your plant life require , and the amount of sun your garden stick .
In sandy territory , water tends to drain quickly and downward , while clay land hold the water system longer and spreads it outward .
In general , vegetable crops need 1 inch of water a week . What does that mean , anyway ?
With these finical driplines , which have 1/2 GPH emitter every 12 inch , that rough compare to 90 minutes per week of watering . How you dole out those minutes depends on your soil : loam can get by with a once weekly watering , while clay responds better to three times a week .
But there are exception . I tend to water daily for myopic durations when my seedling are just starting , then step by step transition to three times a hebdomad for tenacious durations when they ’re more established .
The “ 1 inch of piss a calendar week ” scenario should only be considered a starting point . In the summer , you ’ll probably increase your output and in periods of rain , you ’ll need to conform consequently .
Set your irrigation to endure betimes in the morning and watch your plant life for signboard of stress after a week . If you ca n’t tell by vision alone how your plant are doing , you may delve down and gauge with your hands ; the first 4 to 6 inches should sense evenly moist .
Step 7: Mulch your garden.
Drip irrigation components do n’t last indefinitely ; the credit card will finally wear down but you may prolong the life of the system by shelter it from the elements . Mulch not only the driplines in your beds ( along with your plant ) , but also the mainline tube and micro tube outdoors of your seam .
Step 8: Hurrah! You’re done — but there’s always work to keep an eye out for.
Having an automatic system does n’t mean you may brush off your garden now . Always contain your system sporadically to see to it it ’s amply functional .
Check for leaks on the faucet assembly , substitute the timer stamp battery as need , make certain your bounder has n’t used the mainline tubing as its chew plaything .
Remember to correct your timer with the seasons to account for tot up ( or lack of ) precipitation .
So , are you quick to get started ?
wreak to you byDripWorks . give thanks you for bear the small businesses that support Garden Betty .
This place updated from an article that originally appear on February 4 , 2015 .
