water Most Convenient Watering System

Teaks

Teaks

So, I am planning on creating a fairly large garden in my yard, lets say at least 10ft wide by 20ft long.
 
I am curious what sort of cheap systems I could use for effective and efficient watering?
 
I have read that using pvc pipes with holes drilled in them, with the plants growing next to the holes, is pretty good but it left me with a few questions.
 
Will the pvc pipes ever require cleaning? I can imagine any sitting water in them along with sun exposure might cause some issues?
 
How much water do you provide this way? Do you basically just wait until all the holes are dripping water out and then turn them off or?.. Leave the hose connected for 5-10mins until all the plants appear to be soaked/well watered. Seemingly simple answer, but I don't know if the residual moisture in the pipes would be enough to water everything as it is called "drip" systems.
 
Any suggestions are welcome, thanks in advance
 
Next season i'm gonna be using pvc hooked up to a digital timer but frequency of watering is going to depend on a lot of factors like temperature and any recent rainfall so i'm still going to need to adjust the timer regularly. There really is no "set it and forget it" method but it will make things a lot easier. There's going to be a certain level of trial and error on your part to find what works best. If you have the option of building raised beds, that would be good also cuz they have better drainage and a little more forgiving with overwatering.
 
Edmick said:
Next season i'm gonna be using pvc hooked up to a digital timer but frequency of watering is going to depend on a lot of factors like temperature and any recent rainfall so i'm still going to need to adjust the timer regularly. There really is no "set it and forget it" method but it will make things a lot easier. There's going to be a certain level of trial and error on your part to find what works best. If you have the option of building raised beds, that would be good also cuz they have better drainage and a little more forgiving with overwatering.
Click to expand...
 
Not sure if you can call it a raised bed, but I am planning on working the land quite a bit. I was intending to till the soil first, and then have a few loads of good top soil brought in, and then tilling some more. I'd have this patch boxed in and maybe raised 4 inches or so.
 
I'm not necessarily looking for a system to forget about - or 100% autmation.
I'm mainly interested in something I can turn on or do quickly in the morning before work, as I get up fairly early and want to make sure the plants will be watered. I have lacked in this area last season, often times waiting until mid afternoon to water. Which I understand isn't ideal.
 
If I went with a pvc system, would I need to clean the pipes? I.e, is algae/mold/mildew going to grow inside the pipes from being wet and exposed constantly?
 
Here's a pretty nice video on a drip system by Peter Stanley (Peter S here on THP) 
 
In my fairly basic understanding, as long as you mostly use black pipes/tube, you don't need to worry about algae. And as long as you run the system periodically you don't need to worry much about mold. (Never used a large scale automated set up though, so I have no personal experience)
 
 
 
 
I use a plastic drum -- black pvc pipe --- drippers.
 
Drum to mix in some nutes and closed lid to keep out dirt that could block drippers.
Fill up the drum and it will drip at 1 gallon per hour , more water in drum for really hot days .
 
I used to use a simple soaker hose set-up that snaked its way around some of my plants. Had a cheap mechanical timer at the hose bib so whenever I noticed things drying out I could just walk up to the timer and set it for an hour or so and walk away to do something else.
Actual duration and intervals are determined by type of soil and weather.
I worked really well for a couple years until I went to individual pots instead of raised beds.
 
karoo said:
I use a plastic drum -- black pvc pipe --- drippers.
 
Drum to mix in some nutes and closed lid to keep out dirt that could block drippers.
Fill up the drum and it will drip at 1 gallon per hour , more water in drum for really hot days .
Click to expand...
 
This sounds a little easier than what was in that video, which seems a little more complex.
 
Do you do raised beds or smart pots or..?
 
juanitos said:
yeah just buy a kit from dripworks or dripdepot
 
dont do pvc / drilling
Click to expand...
 
Whats the reason to not use pvc/drill holes? It seems like the easiest way, just curious
 
Small setup.
50Gal drum , 25 plants , in 10 Gal containers, drips for 2 hours ,
extreme heat , every day
cool weather , twice a week
 
I put my own drip tape system together with a timer, and it worked great.  Even added a fertigator to mix in a concentrated nutrient solution.  If you do a search for "dripworks drip tape row crop kit small" the first link will give you a good idea of what's involved (minus the fertigator).  
 
While the system worked fine, I find outdoor hydroponics (Dutch buckets) works better (and no weeding!) in my very hot and dry climate, and use that now. 
 
So I wanted to bring this up again, I'm likely going to have a 36x36ft garden plot and was hoping someone could recommend a sprinkler that would cover this area.

Every time I see a sprinkler that says it covers that area or larger, I read a review that said it's more like 25ft in diameter for example.

I'm hoping to find one sprinkler I can just hook up to a timer and know that it will work for the growing season
 
Not a fan of sprinklers.... inefficient... Why? 1/2' off alignment with bed over (I'm likely going to have a 36x36ft garden plot ") 18' and you are spraying grass. Water from sprinkler flying in air and susceptible to wind disruption and other inefficiencies.
 
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