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Soaker Hose Input?

inolan22

inolan22

I did have another thread in the "Grow Tech" section of this forum, but I think more people browse this section.

I have recently made a 4' x 16' garden area and put 52 plants in it. Four rows 12" apart and 13 columns 15" apart. I also bought a 50' soaker hose to water the plants. Currently I have the soaker hose down the center of the 4 rows. So three passes of approximately 16' each pretty much uses up the whole hose.

Would it be better to position the hose closer to each row? Right now the hose is about 6" from the plants on either side. Or will this positioning provide sufficient water to the roots?

I can get a picture if my description isn't enough hehe..

Thanks,
 
I read your other post and actually did some searches on those hoses as a result. I noticed it soaks the entire area that the hose covers and not just specific areas where you have plants. Not sure if this is needed or not, but I thought it would be a waste of water. Here in Cali that's a HUGE crime if your caught wasting water. I thought one of those hoses with smaller hoses running off the big one dripping directly onto your plant my be a better solution, but I haven't used either so i'm hoping to get some good feedback as well from the pros.
 
Inolan22,

Pictures always help. I would like to see your plot. 52 plants in 64 square feet is ALOT. My rows are about 3 feet apart and I have 24 inch spacing between plants.

Gardening is a big experiment. What your doing might work GREAT! I hope so.

But anyway, I found that soaker hoses are a great way to water and a great way to conserve water. I use them in mine...... You can see it around the onions. I've got two soaker hoses tied together in a 300 square foot plot.

Picture001-1.jpg
 
Yea, I know I did put a lot of plants in the small area. It's my first year with the whole garden thing, so we shall see what happens. It will be a learning experience that is for sure.

Here is a week old picture of the garden area. I will get an updated picture that contains the soaker hose tomorrow. From front to back...2 rows tomato / 3 rows banana pepper / 2 rows bell pepper / 3 rows of Jalapeno / 2 rows cayenne chili / 4 open spaces at the end. I was planning to put some orange habaneros there, but I am rethinking because they might get much larger than the others.

Garden5-25-09.jpg
 
Ya, it's gonna get CROWDED up in there 'fo shure.. ;)

Put it this way..my Bih is only 15" tall, but it's 20" wide...if it ws outdoors it'd be twice that size.

Soaker hoses are awesome...just careful ya dont drown 'em.

We used to have a soaker hose on a hose-timer fro the garden when I was a kid..it's easier.
 
That's a good bed you've built, but as my ole man used to say,"That's too much sugar for a nickel". :P

Either more bed or fewer plants and you and your plants will be happier. :)
 
Inolan22,

I think you'll have a happier growing season if you thin the bed (nice BTW) out a bit and put some of the plants in pots. The garden will grow better if not crowded.

Bob
 
I'm going to fly in the face of reason here and say that if it is way too much trouble to thin out that raised bed, just leave them. Commercial fields plant with 12 inch spacing for habs, and they're production speaks for itself. Their rows are probably a lot farther apart, but I've seen pics on this site of raised beds more crowded than yours that are forests full of peppers by the fall. The only real problem I foresee is if you have varieties that grow tall fast planted in front of something like a a chinense that may take its sweet time in growing vertically. Depending on which direction is which, the peppers planted right next to those tomatoes might get shaded out, as some of mine close to the tomatoes did last year.

On the soaker hose note, they rock! I snake mine around beside the base of each plant, close to the stem but it doesn't have to touch. They save water, and you can just turn a knob and water the whole garden at once. It also reduces the amount of water on the foliage, which is a good thing considering most plant pathogens need moisture to infect their host, or need water to be splashed on their leaves and stems to carry spores or other colony forming units.
 
FiveStar said:
Commercial fields plant with 12 inch spacing for habs, and they're production speaks for itself. Their rows are probably a lot farther apart
Click to expand...

Yup, wider planted rows for, more sun, air, higher production and they do need to pick them too. :)

His in row spacing is fine, but the row spacing will have the plants and him grumbling come harvest time. ;)

I'm not saying you can't raise a crop like this, but you would probably come close to doubling production with the same number of plants when given more space.
 
I do know that the bed is probably packed in right now. It will be way too much work (IMO) to transplant out etc etc... I do have the garden arranged so the tomatoes are to the north, since they will most likely get the largest.

I finally got a picture of the garden with the soaker hose shown. Let me know whatcha think.

Garden6-5-09.jpg


Oh yea, and here is a pic of the lawn prior to the garden project (which happened on 5/25/09, Memorial day). I will probably end up putting in another bed to the left along the driveway, but that was way too much work for that day.
GardenBefore5-25-09.jpg


Obviously, I can't take any pictures without the pup getting in it.
 
Garden looks great! You'll love the ease of watering that thing too. Just turn on the hose and drink a cold beer. Just don't forget to turn it off! It's very easy to do. Last season, I left mine on overnight a few times, after drinking one too many cold beers whilst soaker hosing.
 
inolan22 said:
I will probably end up putting in another bed to the left along the driveway, but that was way too much work for that day.
Click to expand...
Yea turning over a bed by hand takes a lot out of you.
FiveStar said:
Garden looks great! You'll love the ease of watering that thing too. Just turn on the hose and drink a cold beer. Just don't forget to turn it off! It's very easy to do. Last season, I left mine on overnight a few times, after drinking one too many cold beers whilst soaker hosing.
Click to expand...

How long do you usually run yours? I am probably going to pick up a couple next season.
 
I have been running my soaker hose about 20 minutes every couple days. The soil base around here has alot of clay and it seems like the water just disappears rather quickly.
 
inolan22 said:
I do know that the bed is probably packed in right now. It will be way too much work (IMO) to transplant out etc etc... I do have the garden arranged so the tomatoes are to the north, since they will most likely get the largest.

I finally got a picture of the garden with the soaker hose shown. Let me know whatcha think.

Garden6-5-09.jpg
Click to expand...

Good irrigation setup. I'd probably eliminate the middle run of the soaker hose, since the current configuration is delivering twice as much water to the two middle rows.
 
my soaker hose actually sprays like a 3 ft swath if you have it on full blast. It doesn't just ooze, it shoots out of the holes.
 
As far as how often and how long to soaker, I usually let my plants tell me when. I just poke my finger into the ground to get an idea of how dry the soil is and at what depth. I go for the less often, but with more water approach. I usually wait till some of the larger plants look a tad droopy, then I turn it on and let it run for 45 minutes to an hour to get a nice deep watering. My tomatoes on the other hand get deep waterings like this once or twice a week depending on the weather (mainly rain and heat). Regular watering is the key to preventing blossom end rot on maters, so I try to keep the water on them as regularly as possible, and don't ever let them droop like I do some of my peppers.
 
cheezydemon said:
my soaker hose actually sprays like a 3 ft swath if you have it on full blast. It doesn't just ooze, it shoots out of the holes.
Click to expand...

Thats probably what I was refering to as the cheaper soaker-hose. The better ones bleed water into the ground but not into the air or onto the plants
 
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