water Watering system??

inolan22 · May 26, 2009

Hey everyone,

I just got the garden area ready and put in the plants. So far I have been watering it with a hose just spraying them every day or two. I was wondering if there was a cheap/easy watering system that anyone uses or has run across. I was thinking something that I could just hook the hose up to for like 5-10 minutes and it would water the whole garden. My garden is fairly small (4'x16') so I probably don't need anything super high tech like a drip irrigation system.

Was just curious if there was anything simple out there that I could make/buy easily.

Thanks!

AlabamaJack · May 27, 2009

they make sprinklers that you can adjust the spray pattern on...not expensive at Walmart...a couple of them daisy chained together should do the trick...

Or...you could just use a soaker hose...

inolan22 · May 27, 2009

AlabamaJack said:
they make sprinklers that you can adjust the spray pattern on...not expensive at Walmart...a couple of them daisy chained together should do the trick...

Or...you could just use a soaker hose...

The soaker hose appears to be about what I was thinking. Lay the hose down in the garden, attach the water supply and let it go for a bit. Looks like a 50' hose would work well for three passes. 16*3 = 48'

. Any precautions or certain diameter sizes I should go with..1/2"...1/4"? Looks like they are relatively inexpensive also...$10 or so.

POTAWIE · May 27, 2009

Get a good soaker hose, not the ones that spray into the air. You want the good type that saturates the soil below it

AlabamaJack · May 27, 2009

if you truly want to lay the soaker hose and forget it....get a timer that you can set then you won't have to worry about forgetting to water the plants...I simply like looking at/inspecting each of my plants every day

inolan22 · May 27, 2009

POTAWIE said:
Get a good soaker hose, not the ones that spray into the air. You want the good type that saturates the soil below it

Is there a particular brand that has a good name?

AlabamaJack said:
if you truly want to lay the soaker hose and forget it....get a timer that you can set then you won't have to worry about forgetting to water the plants...I simply like looking at/inspecting each of my plants every day

The garden is about 60 feet from my outside faucet. I was wanting something (like the soaker hose) that I could have in place in the garden....so I could hook up the water supply and let it go while I inspect/admire/etc the plants instead of physically holding down the spray nozzle.

I would remove the connetor hose but be able to leave the soaker hose in the garden / plug the end and have it ready for the next watering.

POTAWIE · May 27, 2009

Not sure of brand names but if you do get one that sprays up too much, you can just cover it with some mulch.

inolan22 · May 27, 2009

POTAWIE said:
Not sure of brand names but if you do get one that sprays up too much, you can just cover it with some mulch.

ok, I was debating on whether to mulch the garden or not...I guess depending on the soaker hose I get will make up my mind!

Are soaker hoses normally in stock in the standard Menards/Lowes/etc stores?

newhotstuff · May 27, 2009

Get the spikes which attach soda bottles too. Save you some money by not wasting water on evaporation.

AlabamaJack · May 27, 2009

inolan22 said:
Are soaker hoses normally in stock in the standard Menards/Lowes/etc stores?

yes, I got mine at Walmart...and like Potawie said, use some mulch to cover it up with....

newhotstuff said:
Get the spikes which attach soda bottles too. Save you some money by not wasting water on evaporation.

mulch reduces evaporation too...aren't those spikes expensive?

POTAWIE · May 27, 2009

Spikes are cheap but you need to refill often since 2 litres is about the maximum you can use

newhotstuff · May 27, 2009

the plant should drink as needed as opposed to just watering the soil.

inolan22 · May 30, 2009

Well, Sears had some soaker hoses (50') on clearance for $5...not a bad deal. I got two just in case I needed another later on.

The only other question is...should I place the hose close to each of the plants?....I have 4 rows each about 12 inches apart. One 50' hose will only make it 3 passes. Will putting the hose in between the rows (about 6" away from the plants on either side) be close enough to get sufficient water to all of the plants?? Or should I figure out a better configuration to get the hose close to each of the plants??