Drip irrigation for tomatoes

[Proud Marine Dad]

I went and bought a cheap ($14) 1/4" hose drip kit from Home Depot.
It should work fine but I bet I will have to leave it on all day being it's 1/2 gph.

 

[theghostpepperstore]

I went and bought a cheap ($14) 1/4" hose drip kit from Home Depot.
It should work fine but I bet I will have to leave it on all day being it's 1/2 gph.

You may want to read the fine print as they probably mean 1/2 gph per emitter. My drip tape runs at .6gph per emitter. A very easy way to find out exactly what the flow rate is would be to feed one emitter into a empty milk jug and time it.

 

[Proud Marine Dad]

You may want to read the fine print as they probably mean 1/2 gph per emitter. My drip tape runs at .6gph per emitter. A very easy way to find out exactly what the flow rate is would be to feed one emitter into a empty milk jug and time it.

True. I was thinking that after I posted this.
Would there be any problem with two micro drippers per plant you think?

 

[theghostpepperstore]

I don't see why that would be an issue unless your system has a recommended maximum for emitters that would not allow this. I know that your total # emitters x .5 gph cannot exceed the total gph of your water supply. Again an easy way to check that would be to turn off all emitters and open your main line and time how long it takes to fill a 5 gallon bucket from the main line. This will take into account any reduced flow from filters, pressure regulators or backflow devices.

 

[Little Minnie]

No, not trash bags but Territorial tomato bags. I have tremendous wind in my garden and these have helped with that and kept them insulated. I planned to plant really early and wrap in clear plastic too (row cover would tear on the cages and I have learned not to plant now and cage later!) but I didn't plant until the frost was passed - but still potential. I did the row cover for the peppers and eggs and they look happy under there. Damn wind has ripped it a little where the blocks are holding it down. So much for keeping bugs out.

I have the high output t tape but still with a good pressure regulator. It is working awesome! With my sand, wind and weeds I am loving the plastic and drip lines on everything. I can water the whole 1/2 acre garden in 2 hours while I work in it! That saves pump money too. I rent my land from a family that doesn't use it so I am always trying to keep their expenses down. I highly recommend the drip tape. Even when it gets bent or has cages and staples tight on it it still works great.

Oh another thing I like about the tapes is it makes spacing a breeze. Like the peppers, I just planted along each tape. For the peps and taters I did one row on the outside of them and one on the inside for 3 rows with 2 tapes. I put down 3 tapes for corn and did 6 rows- one on each side. For onions I put down 4 tapes and did 8 rows I believe in the beds. I used my foot to measure each onion along the tape so I didn't have to move a yard stick around. I used a jab seeder to plant the onions and corn through plastic. With the stand up jab planters using your foot to measure is great!

 

[lostcoast]

I went and bought a cheap ($14) 1/4" hose drip kit from Home Depot.
It should work fine but I bet I will have to leave it on all day being it's 1/2 gph.

I'd also bet that it is per emitter (sometimes the emitters have it printed on them). I run the same flow on my tomatoes and water 3x a week for a half an hour in the am (set up on a timer) and have no mulch, fabric, or plastic on the ground.

 

[Proud Marine Dad]

I put it all in after work and it took maybe 30 mins. Not bad for $14.