water Drip irrigation

[synclinorium]

I've seen plenty of people around the forums who use soaker hoses and drip irrigation in their garden. I've just installed a 50' soaker hose in my tomato and vegetable beds and it's working well at the moment, but since almost all of my peppers are in containers I think a drip system would work better for them.

I'm curious, anyone try building your own irrigation system? I'm looking at various irrigation kits online, but for what is actually involved I'm not sure the price is justified when I'd need 3-4 kits for my small army of potted plants. Is there a reliable brand for this sort of thing?

 

[RedtailForester]

I've only used drip irrigation once and that was over ten years ago during a summer research project. It worked very well for tree saplings so I'm assuming it will work like a charm for peppers. You can control the amount of flow from each drip hole but it does take some time to get it dialed in. From what I remember, the initial set-up isn't particularly cheap. Look around and see what you can find.

 

[Hot Pooper]

I looked into buying one, and building one myself. After piecing it all together, the cost is VERY similar. I actually ended up doing a sprinkler system this year because I couldnt bring myself to buy the drip system. Big mistake. For next year, I WILL be purchasing a drip irrigation system.
Look at "The Drip Store." They have VERY good prices. The one I was looking at has 50 emitters, for around $50 for the whole kit.
Good luck!

 

[synclinorium]

I looked into buying one, and building one myself. After piecing it all together, the cost is VERY similar. I actually ended up doing a sprinkler system this year because I couldnt bring myself to buy the drip system. Big mistake. For next year, I WILL be purchasing a drip irrigation system.
Look at "The Drip Store." They have VERY good prices. The one I was looking at has 50 emitters, for around $50 for the whole kit.
Good luck!

That sounds better than what I was looking at before. With the heat being the way it is now, and with our sudden lack of rain, I'm going to have to stay on top of the potted plants... this seems like the most practical option.

 

[queequeg152]

im building a drip system using the tropf blumat drippers. each dripper is a little tensiometer, its pretty cool imo, but they are hyper expensive compared to button drippers.

 

[AlabamaJack]

Here is a thread that takes you through the process of installing a drip system I put in last summer...final product was/is a drip "fertigation" system...and I love it...

http://www.thehotpepper.com/topic/17176-poor-mans-irrigation-system/page__hl__drip

 

[ZanderSpice]

im building a drip system using the tropf blumat drippers. each dripper is a little tensiometer, its pretty cool imo, but they are hyper expensive compared to button drippers.

I've got a couple blumats in right now and a bunch more planned. They're awesome, but I wish they fit standard tube. The pressurized supply is a bit difficult too. Are you going to use gravity or tap for the source?

I've also got timed drip going in. I use drip line with the 1GPH emitters every 18". I costs about $15 for 12 plants counting the line, two elbows, a t, end piece and a tbar stake or two.

Both a way better than hand watering alone, but my plants also enjoy a hand watering a least once a week.

 

[queequeg152]

I've got a couple blumats in right now and a bunch more planned. They're awesome, but I wish they fit standard tube. The pressurized supply is a bit difficult too. Are you going to use gravity or tap for the source?

I've also got timed drip going in. I use drip line with the 1GPH emitters every 18". I costs about $15 for 12 plants counting the line, two elbows, a t, end piece and a tbar stake or two.

Both a way better than hand watering alone, but my plants also enjoy a hand watering a least once a week.

gravity. im going to use 2 elevated 32gallon trashcans.