ISO Drip Irrigation System pictures

[Kompakfigs]

I literally get excited when I see others take the plunge because I know first hand how liberating it is. For sure, it's a pain on the initial setup... But, once you get the hang of it... nothing but smooth sailing and more time to enjoy your garden.

I forgot one piece of advice that EVERYONE should really take. Whenever you order anything, buy extra Goof Plugs.... Lots and lots of goof plugs! You'll need them to plug all the holes in the mainline from mistakes or when you need to move something.

I also put the plugs on short pieces of 6mm drip line to plug off emitters that aren't being used. Easier and cheaper than 6mm valves...... which you should also keep many extras of....

That’s a good idea to buy extras. Knowing my trial and error tendencies I’ll need a lot of plugs.

 

[Kompakfigs]

I ordered most of my supplies from Drip Depot as well. I went with a 2.5g EZ-Flo fertilization tank and digital timer. I went with three main lines with their own shutoffs. 1 for a raised bed garden and 2 for my figs. For my 5 and 8 gallon pots, I got NetBow drip rings. Pretty much everything else is just standard drippers. I have a 2x8 raised bed and 64 fig tree on this system. My last fig tree is like 3' lower than my first and 6' lower than my raised bed, so I went with PC for all my emitters.

I’m leaning towards this setup. Seems simple enough for me.

 

[Kompakfigs]

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!

I’m thinking 2 zones using 1/2” main line.

 

[EtchedFicus]

I’m leaning towards this setup. Seems simple enough for me.

It was super simple to install. I also got auto flush valves to put at the end of my main lines. Once the pressure goes down, they release the remaining water in the lines so that it doesn't sit in there and get 200 degrees. I added those before adding the fert tank. So now I'm realizing that 100'ft of water with fertilizer are getting dumped every day.

The system is easily saving me an hour a day in manual watering though and if I need to give them an extra sip on a long hot afternoon, it just a few button pushes.

It also gives you the freedom to leave when needed without having to find someone else to come water your babies.

 

[FigLab]

Could someone with hard water weigh in on diameters and maintenance?

I really want to install the irrigation system, but our water here is really bad, over 20°dH, so things get clogged very quickly.

I have installed water softening system, but now the water is too salty to even drink, from the water softener - i don't think plants would like that (except for seaberries).

Fortunately, i have created a side valve for the garden. Still the hardness is an issue. I have to open up my garden hose sprayer every other week or so to clean it or it gets clogged.

 

[Kompakfigs]

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.

I’ve stopped growing Cherokee Purple and Black Krim because they didn’t seem to

I have a 4-zone irrigation system to water around 175 trees plus garlic. I’m only using 3-zones right now. This is an old diagram from 2024. This diagram doesn’t show the fig nursery/garlic, and I never did the last far right row of green pots because it was too shady. All pots are now 8-gallons.
View attachment 23112

I started with 1/2” supply lines, but outgrew the system (ie, the water wouldn’t make it to the end of the zone when I added more trees so I had to split into 2 smaller zones). The patch is split into 2 zones front to back (where the dotted line is between the blue and orange pots). To save money, I only upsized the 1/2” line from the supply to where it started down the rows to 3/4”. Once on the rows, it is 1/2” tubing with 1/4” tubing connected to 3-gph drip rings. I use a trellis system to support my irrigation lines. I keep the irrigation tubes outside all winter but take in the timer.
View attachment 23110
I keep my collection as consistent as possible in terms of pot size (mostly 8-gallon) and soil mix. For the handful of 15-gallon pots, I simply use 2-drip rings in that pot. I use adjustable drippers for the 3-gallon fig nursery and garlic.

I started with a Melnor Bluetooth timer, but it died this year after 3 seasons. (The Bluetooth stopped working even after we changed batteries, updated app, etc). We were never happy with the app that you use to connect to program the schedule. We replaced it with the Orbit b-hyve 4-port times with Bluetooth and we added on the WiFi hub. The app seems much easier to use.
View attachment 23109
In the future, I would like to mount everything on a board and hang it on the wall above the faucet. There’s not enough room between the faucet and the floor to fit everything, and the connections seem convoluted as we tried to make it work. We’re behind on everything this season because of the weird weather… someday…

This seems to be what I’m thinking. When my collection becomes smaller, 1/2” main line system should be more efficient.

 

[JC Figgy]

I run 4 zones.
Zone 1:Greenhouse which I set up for babies.
Ez Flo added.
Zone 2: Rows 1-4
Ez Flo added.
Zone 3: Rows 5-9
Ez Flo added.
Zone 4: Garden.
Usually enough slow release and compost I only hand fertilize here. Quite small compared the fig rows. lol.

I run 1/2main line. First couple rows I ran 1/4” to drips in the pots.
Majority I went with ease of installing by drips directly over the pots.
I run 1/2gph drips. More distort bigger pots.
Extra good plugs is a must! Always moving pots around. Order extras of everything for that matter! Get extra! Nothing like having to order a second shipment when you run out midway.

 

[Kompakfigs]

I run 4 zones.
Zone 1:Greenhouse which I set up for babies.
Ez Flo added.
Zone 2: Rows 1-4
Ez Flo added.
Zone 3: Rows 5-9
Ez Flo added.
Zone 4: Garden.
Usually enough slow release and compost I only hand fertilize here. Quite small compared the fig rows. lol.

I run 1/2main line. First couple rows I ran 1/4” to drips in the pots.
Majority I went with ease of installing by drips directly over the pots.
I run 1/2gph drips. More distort bigger pots.
Extra good plugs is a must! Always moving pots around. Order extras of everything for that matter! Get extra! Nothing like having to order a second shipment when you run out midway.

Even if I have a layout diagram, I foresee constantly re-arranging the pots.

 

[Figgin' A]

I’ve stopped growing Cherokee Purple and Black Krim because they didn’t seem to

Didn't seem to what? Do tell, I am dying to know why someone would stop growing one of the best-tasting heirloom beefsteaks in existence, like Cherokee Purple?

P.S. I haven't grown Black Krim in a while... a great-tasting tomato, but eventually it got squeezed out of my top 15 or so varieties that I now grow each year.

 

[Kompakfigs]

Didn't seem to what? Do tell, I am dying to know why someone would stop growing one of the best-tasting heirloom beefsteaks in existence, like Cherokee Purple?

P.S. I haven't grown Black Krim in a while... a great-tasting tomato, but eventually it got squeezed out of my top 15 or so varieties that I now grow each year.

Sorry about that. I’m always looking for slicing tomatoes that taste like sungolds and both CP and BK didn’t have the sweetness or acidity.

 

[superdave336]

Cherokee Purple is my families favorite. We grow it every year.

 

[Kompakfigs]

Cherokee Purple is my families favorite. We grow it every year.

I tried to like it but I must be doing something wrong because they tasted mealy every time.

 

[Figgin' A]

Sorry about that. I’m always looking for slicing tomatoes that taste like sungolds and both CP and BK didn’t have the sweetness or acidity.

Ah... I see.... you like very sweet tomatoes... I once came across someone's generic categorization of tomatoes that states that most people identify 4 types of tomato tastes: sweet, acidic, complex flavor, and balanced. I tried growing multiple sweet tomato varieties, but my family prefers complex-flavored and balanced tomatoes.... I also grow several acidic tomatoes, which I also like very much.

 

[Figgin' A]

I tried to like it but I must be doing something wrong because they tasted mealy every time.

CP has one of the smoothest textures I've had in a tomato. And an incredibly complex flavor. Mealy/grainy texture often is a result of environmental stress like over or underwatering, wide temp swings, nutrient deficiencies, etc... that's assuming they ripened properly... they can get grainy if over-ripened, too.

 

[BruceB]

I have a very simple manual irrigation system. Had it a long time and it has never broken down.

View attachment 23018

Hi-tech!

 

[Kompakfigs]

It seems the orbit water timer is a popular choice.

 

[Kompakfigs]

CP has one of the smoothest textures I've had in a tomato. And an incredibly complex flavor. Mealy/grainy texture often is a result of environmental stress like over or underwatering, wide temp swings, nutrient deficiencies, etc... that's assuming they ripened properly... they can get grainy if over-ripened, too.

That is probably the case because my focus has always been about the figs.

 

[DCallahan]

Don't get caught up in all the fancy fittings and contraptions. If you want to add that in later then do so later AFTER you have a functioning system. Most are not needed and/or a point of failure down the road. This simple setup is literally all you need, just expand the length and number of zones.
Pressure equalizing is better then pressure compensating.

Backflow prevention
Filter
Pressure reduction
Timer
Tubing
Emitters

 

[DCallahan]

It seems the orbit water timer is a popular choice.

I have both Orbit and Rain point. I prefer Rain point as I think it's easier the set the parameters and it is more flexible in timing options.

 

[Kompakfigs]

Don't get caught up in all the fancy fittings and contraptions. If you want to add that in later then do so later AFTER you have a functioning system. Most are not needed and/or a point of failure down the road. This simple setup is literally all you need, just expand the length and number of zones.
Pressure equalizing is better then pressure compensating.

Backflow prevention
Filter
Pressure reduction
Timer
Tubing
Emitters

Yep. That is why I’m looking at kits. If I had to carefully plan out the system I’ll never get a system.