ISO Drip Irrigation System pictures

TorontoJoe said:
I tried tarps.... until I destroyed them with a shovel. I don't really like using my driveway, but it's the only hard surface i have where I won't destroy a lawn and not damage other stuff. .... Plus I can sweep it when I'm done
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Well if you have a wheelbarrow or can get one easily then id say give it a shot. Ive never damaged mine and It may help with your back to not have to bend and lift as far. I put the container in the wheelbarrow along with the mix so its not like im shoveling out of the wheelbarrow.
 
TorontoJoe said:
I dump most of my pots on my driveway... then add a bunch of compost, chicken poop and other amendments. I break my back mixing it back and forth to blend it... then refill the pots and put them back in their spots before planting in them. It's not the most fun work. I just spent the last 2 days doing this. I want to get back to food I can direct sow... but It'll never happen with tomatoes and peppers while I live here.
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@TorontoJoe Hear me out, this might sound crazy. But I'm sure you have a snowblower, living in Canada. Run that snowblower through your soil pile , low to med low power , it will come through just like wet snow. Flip the pile back and forth a couple times and your all mixed up. You can even use the blower output to fill your pots back up.
 
DCallahan said:
@TorontoJoe Hear me out, this might sound crazy. But I'm sure you have a snowblower, living in Canada. Run that snowblower through your soil pile , low to med low power , it will come through just like wet snow. Flip the pile back and forth a couple times and your all mixed up. You can even use the blower output to fill your pots back up.
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This does sound crazy, and I would pay to see him do it... :LOL:

I tried mixing large quantities of soil and amendments in the past, but decided it wasn't for me. I now mix as I go. Small batches in my large wheelbarrow, which holds enough for half a dozen smaller containers or a couple of large containers. Quick, easy, and very convenient. And what is most important to me, no mess.
 
TorontoJoe said:
It's been years. I'm trying to find the old drawings. It was amazing.... I held off for so long because I was a bit intimidated but the initial setup... which did take me a good day to do.... but after that the investment paid off. It was total smooth sailing. Now all I do every spring is replace 1 or 2 emitters and program the timer... that's it, that's all.
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I assume you have to empty the system of water before winter, but once you've done that, the poly tubing holds up to winter pretty well?

EDIT: I ask because last year was my first winter in a location where it freezes, but I moved houses halfway through, so I didn't see how my tubing came through the winter.
 
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paupau said:
Well if you have a wheelbarrow or can get one easily then id say give it a shot. Ive never damaged mine and It may help with your back to not have to bend and lift as far. I put the container in the wheelbarrow along with the mix so its not like im shoveling out of the wheelbarrow.
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I saw a guy on youtube who used a little cement mixer to make his potting/bed soil mix.
 
paupau said:
Well if you have a wheelbarrow or can get one easily then id say give it a shot. Ive never damaged mine and It may help with your back to not have to bend and lift as far. I put the container in the wheelbarrow along with the mix so its not like im shoveling out of the wheelbarrow.
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I have a wheelbarrow. The amount of pots I grew is maybe 2 yards, maybe 3…so nowhere near big enough. I could do it in wheelbarrow size batches, but that would take me a long time.
 
cdh said:
I assume you have to empty the system of water before winter, but once you've done that, the poly tubing holds up to winter pretty well?

EDIT: I ask because last year was my first winter in a location where it freezes, but I moved houses halfway through, so I didn't see how my tubing came through the winter.
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I don’t. I just bring the timer indoors so it doesn’t freeze the mechanisms and cap off any open ends on the mainlines so the don’t get dirt inside. That’s all. So easy
 
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DCallahan said:
@TorontoJoe Hear me out, this might sound crazy. But I'm sure you have a snowblower, living in Canada. Run that snowblower through your soil pile , low to med low power , it will come through just like wet snow. Flip the pile back and forth a couple times and your all mixed up. You can even use the blower output to fill your pots back up.
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My snowblower is a single stage with no speed control. I’d likely end up sending all my mix to my neighbours 😆
 
JC Figgy said:
How many trees are you watering?
If you’re going 100 or less and have more than one zone to work with, 1/2” main line should be sufficient. If your going more than 100 and only one zone to work with definitely upgrade to 3/4” main like.
You can use drip rings or drippers. You can 1/4”
From main line or if you plan to make trellis rows,
You can hang the main line above the pots and add drippers directly to the main line!
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I have 4 zones an go up to 100 per zone without any problems. I time it so the come on at different times so pressure isn’t an issue

Depending on how you’re sourcing the water, you may need to add a pressure reducer in front of your timer. Some of them can’t handle the amount of pressure that municipal water or a pump delivers.
 
Figgin' A said:
I did a lot of research back in the day and settled on a system based on a 6-zone Hunter controller, 4 drip zone valves for now, but will be adding two more in the future, and a Dosatron.

I struggled a lot with my drip system in the past primarily because I never liked any of the emitters, bubblers, and drip tubes I was able to find... i never liked drip tube as it left a lot of dry pockets. Last summer I switched to adjustable brass emitters from Temu, I think they call them misters, and those work exceptionally well for practically everything I grow, with very even coverage of the pots and no dry pockets.... very reliable compared to plastic emitters and bubblers, and a very good flow rate for my needs... I am very happy with the perfromance now... The system has a lot of smart features, like adjusting irrigation based on your local precipitation, etc. My season is just starting, so I haven't put everything back, but here are some pics from today and a couple from earlier.

irrigation-5.jpg

irrigation-1.jpg

irrigation-3.jpg

irrigation.jpg


These are the emitters
irrigation-2.jpg

I have these also hanging over my fig pots, tomato containers, etc... I can adjust the spray cone to fit the diameter of the container, which is very helpful. The coverage is very even, which is what I've always struggled with with all other emitters I used in the past, as I previously mentioned...

I use quick connect fittings and can easily switch to manual watering / fertigation if needed, it literally takes a couple of minutes to switch, if needed.
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That’s a sexy rig! 😲

Mine is just melnor water timer to mainlines
 
TorontoJoe said:
I have a wheelbarrow. The amount of pots I grew is maybe 2 yards, maybe 3…so nowhere near big enough. I could do it in wheelbarrow size batches, but that would take me a long time.
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Yeah its definitely slower but I'd say my back is worth saving over a little time savings. I usually do a yard at a time when I do mine. Still a very short amount of time in the grand scheme of things
 
TorontoJoe said:
I want to get back to food I can direct sow... but It'll never happen with tomatoes and peppers while I live here.
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Well, technically you can... I stagger many of my crops... I direct sow my last tomatoes on June 15 and harvest them from late September to late October, even early November during warmer years. I also direct sowed some peppers last year sometime in June and harvested sometime in October, need to check the pictures on my phone... I normally don't that with peppers, so I don't remember the dates well. Of course, while those tomatoes that ripen after mid-September here taste pretty good, they can't even compare to the tomatoes ripened in July - August.
 
I’m on travel so I can’t post photos atm. I have tried many things over the years. I’ve done drip tape, soaker hoses, individual emitters,… I’m on municipal water and these things always plug with hard water deposits. What I’m using now I highly recommend. Not drip tape, but drip tubing. It has regularly spaced emitters that are pressure compensating and large enough so that they don’t clog. I got mine from drip works. The Irritrol products they sell are very high quality and last years. In fact, I’ve never had to replace it because it’s failed to work. No holes in the watering pattern, no plugged emitters. It’s not particularly expensive stuff. The emitter spacing becomes your plant spacing, just design around it. The other option is take for instance 1 foot spaced emitters and lay the tubing at 1 foot intervals and then the ground is uniformly watered down a few inches. Even though you only see a small drip on top of the the watered cone. The water diffuses laterally very quickly.

Obviously, I’m talking about garden irrigation, not figs in pots if that is your use case, but thought I would throw it out.

Here’s a link.
1/2” emitters tubing
$36 for 100 feet. I can’t recommend this stuff highly enough.
 
TorontoJoe said:
That’s a sexy rig! 😲

Mine is just melnor water timer to mainlines
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Thanks, Joe. I started with a simple timer and a few lines and basic drip lines... it was a long time ago... my setup evolved a lot over many years... I'd get something, then see something better... then I'd get frustrated with something and get something else... You know how it goes... I think this is it for me... I hope it lasts me a long time and I won't have to replace or update anything... especially that Dosatron which back in the day cost me about a third of what they sell for now and even back then I thought it cost me a fortune LOL
 
TorontoJoe said:
I have 4 zones an go up to 100 per zone without any problems. I time it so the come on at different times so pressure isn’t an issue

Depending on how you’re sourcing the water, you may need to add a pressure reducer in front of your timer. Some of them can’t handle the amount of pressure that municipal water or a pump delivers.
Click to expand...
It’s a must to use a pressure reducer where i live, it’s crazy high! Depending on how long your main line runs are and how many GPH drip or spray, you’ll end up without enough pressure to push out water at your dry end of runs. Luckily I haven’t run into that.
Keep in mind try to run the same type or fog or dripper or sprayer in each zone. Otherwise some will get over watered and some under.
 
TorontoJoe said:
Maybe so but they’ll taste better in September than anything you can buy at the supermarket.
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100%... I have no idea what they do to them... A couple of years back, I bought one good looking heirloom tomato at Loblaws. It looked very good. Reminded me of Black Krim or Cherokee Purple. I was very curious to try it... paid $5 for one tomato. It was so bad that I threw it out. I think if I intentionally tried to grow a bad tomato it would have tasted better.
 
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