best way to lay soaker hose

arrgh · May 25, 2015

I have 3 rows of peppers planted really tight. The plants are about 2 ft from each other, but the rows even closer, about 18 inches apart. So same idea as square ft gardening, just not quite so extreme.

Should I just run a soaker hose down middle of each row. That would put it about 9 inches from the stems. I'm worried doing it this way that the middle row would be getting water from both sides, and it would be hard to water evenly. Maybe I could put it slightly closer to outside plants keep all plants getting same water.

Or should I run 3 hoses, and put them right up near the stems.

Naga Chomper · May 26, 2015

Buy it a nice dinner, and a decent bottle of wine.

A walk on the beach won't hurt either.

D3monic · May 26, 2015

best off going with drip lines, can run a 1/2" mainline between rows and use 1/4 push fittings to run a dripper over to each plant. that way you're not wasting water and feeding weed growth. Can buy kits that come with a hose adapter, tubing, fittings and stuff fairly cheap.

juanitos · May 26, 2015

I like the way demonic describes

But if you running a high gph soaker hose then just run it down the middle will be fine.. 2 hoses on either side of ur middle row

JoynersHotPeppers · May 26, 2015

juanitos said:
I like the way demonic describes

But if you running a high gph soaker hose then just run it down the middle will be fine.. 2 hoses on either side of ur middle row

Yep that is what I did for last years seasons, not this season and all my plants got plenty of water.

arrgh · May 26, 2015

D3monic said:
best off going with drip lines, can run a 1/2" mainline between rows and use 1/4 push fittings to run a dripper over to each plant. that way you're not wasting water and feeding weed growth. Can buy kits that come with a hose adapter, tubing, fittings and stuff fairly cheap.

The kits were close in price to what I spent. But While I have a small garden, I have a ton of plants in it.

So I think I would have had to buy a bunch of connectors and extra hose to make it work. I knew drip lines would be better, but frankly I was a bit intimidated on figuring out what to order, and afraid money would keep adding up.

The soaker hose is already ordered now. So I at least have to use it for this season.

juanitos said:
I like the way demonic describes

But if you running a high gph soaker hose then just run it down the middle will be fine.. 2 hoses on either side of ur middle row

I'm not sure on what is considered high gph. The one I got is rated for 1/2 to 1 gph per foot.

I know that it will come down to how my plants are looking, and that type of soil, and rainfall, etc will change it. But what would be a good start on time to leave system on, and how often?

Spicymon · May 26, 2015

D3monic said:
best off going with drip lines, can run a 1/2" mainline between rows and use 1/4 push fittings to run a dripper over to each plant. that way you're not wasting water and feeding weed growth. Can buy kits that come with a hose adapter, tubing, fittings and stuff fairly cheap.

Yes...

arrgh said:
The soaker hose is already ordered now. So I at least have to use it for this season.

The first year I used them in the beds I replaced them halfway through the season with a conventional sprinkler spraying the plants... and that was an improvement. Give it a go, but even my good quality soaker hoses started to suck after a solid month of summer heat here.

PaddyMc · May 27, 2015

Run one right down the middle of each row. When you plant them, "weave" the hose around the plants (alternate having the hose on one or the the other side of each plant). My rows are similarly close to yours (see pics below) and I put IRT 100 Plastic mulch on top, but same effect. One nice side effect of the plastic is that over/under watering is rarely a problem, because the plastic helps maintain nice, even, moisture.