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water Drip Irrigation from Lowes ??

AJ Drew

AJ Drew

Generally, we rely on pond and rain water applied by sprinkling.  Works just fine for most of what we grow which is in the ground.  Doesn't work well at all for things in containers and most of my seed stock is grown in containers these days.  I water those individually but am often away.

I was in Lowes the other day when I saw a drip irrigation system.  It seemed incredibly easy.  You hook it up to a water outlet on your house.  The unit is programmable.  From what I can tell, you turn on the faucet and it takes over with its own internal valves. 

So am wondering: Is it really that easy and do the things sold at Lowes really work?
 
 
 
AJ Drew said:
Generally, we rely on pond and rain water applied by sprinkling.  Works just fine for most of what we grow which is in the ground.  Doesn't work well at all for things in containers and most of my seed stock is grown in containers these days.  I water those individually but am often away.

I was in Lowes the other day when I saw a drip irrigation system.  It seemed incredibly easy.  You hook it up to a water outlet on your house.  The unit is programmable.  From what I can tell, you turn on the faucet and it takes over with its own internal valves. 

So am wondering: Is it really that easy and do the things sold at Lowes really work?
 
 
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It is that easy.

I use it for my containers and it works really well. I highly recommend https://www.dripdepot.com. One stop shopping, quick shipping and a good product. They have alot of info on website for different setups.
 
Have a friend who has a huge high tunnel with drip irrigation.  Each plant has a planting hole in the plastic covered floor.  Each plant has its own drip.  The thing is somehow linked to  moisture meter.  It all seems so very complex.  That is why I asked about the things at Lowes, they seem so very simple.

She told me without really good filters, pond water is out.  I hate using county water.  Think it changes the flavor of produce.  But figure this is for seed stock so it will make no difference other than keeping them alive when I am not there.
 
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Super easy! This was my container garden a few year back. I punched a hole in the containers to feed the drip line through instead of using the little stakes...much more effective. You will have to change your watering schedule as the season progresses and the weather warms up, but it is pretty much fire and forget. I could only come home on the weekends that season, so I needed something to babysit them while I was gone. 
 
I use drip irrigation for my raised beds. I am on municipal water.
 
I bought my RainBird kit at Menards, which had a much better selection than my local Lowes and Home Depot. I have added additional risers and different riser heads since. I did find some good 360° micro sprinkler heads at Lowes.
 
I bought a double canister water filter, a four way hose manifold and three 25 ft. garden hoses, also at Menards. I bought the particulate and chloromine filter cartridges on Amazon and WalMart.com, respectively.
 
I bought an Orbit digital hose timer on Amazon.
 
I would estimate I spent about $125 to $150 for everything, and have a total of 24 risers.
 
STC3248, oh wow that is beautiful.  All my containers are gifted five gallon black thin walled nursery pots.  How I would love to have something like yours line my driveway or sidewalk.  Sometimes I think I am too much of a cheap bastard for my own good.

Alkhall, did not know you could buy chlorine filters for them.  Thanks for mentioning it.  Have read there isnt enough chlorine to make a difference, but old school says at a minimum to let the water sit for a day so the chlorine evaporates.  Not sure which thinking is correct, but if it is that affordable to filter it out then I am in.
 
AJ Drew said:
STC3248, oh wow that is beautiful.  All my containers are gifted five gallon black thin walled nursery pots.  How I would love to have something like yours line my driveway or sidewalk.  Sometimes I think I am too much of a cheap bastard for my own good.
 
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AJ, I got those at Walmart that year for $2 each. They were trying to get rid of them to make room for xmas stuff one year, but they faded and cracked after only a couple seasons. I have stacks of nursery containers, but they get way too hot for my location. I now use 7# fabric pots off Amazon. Super cheap, low heat transfer, air pruning, but they do dry out a little quicker...not a problem when I can set my timer to water a couple times a day if I want to! 
 
https://www.amazon.com/247Garden-5-Pack-Gallon-Aeration-Handles/dp/B013JFHMNK/ref=sr_1_3?s=lawn-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1517161661&sr=1-3&keywords=247%2Bgarden%2Bfabric%2Bpots&th=1
 
I use Orbit 2 station hose timers to run my drip systems...once again I had to shop around but I got my timers on sale for $20 each at a big box store, but they are usually up near $40. Can't wait to see the setup you come up with!
 
For seed stock, I use five gallon nursery pots but they are shaded by netting.  Everything else is in the ground.  What struck me about those pots is how they could be used to line a walkway or something along those lines.  What I really dig are the Roman looking concrete pots.  Everything here is functional because I am a cheap bastard.  I would so love to move things more into style.  Someday...
 
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