Pvc Pipe To Drip Irrigation – One of our top priorities when building our new garden was to install drip irrigation in all of our raised garden beds. When it comes to keeping plants healthy and happy, providing deep, even, regular water is just as important as high quality soil, compost and sunlight! However, good irrigation practices are often overlooked. Watering is time-consuming, and difficult to coordinate. And, setting up sprinkler irrigation systems is often intimidating…
Follow along and learn how to set up drip irrigation for many raised garden beds. Our new drip irrigation system uses drip tape, but the skills you’ll learn today can easily be applied to other types of drip emitters. This article and accompanying video will walk you through everything you need to know—from resources to a step-by-step process—to feel confident setting up a similar drip system of your own.
Pvc Pipe To Drip Irrigation
Did you know that automatic irrigation systems not only save time and energy, but also conserve water? Studies show that drip irrigation can save up to 70% of water over overhead irrigation systems. Rather than willingly spraying everything down, drip irrigation delivers targeted water right to the base of the plants and soil. This reduces waste, runoff, and evaporation.
Bushes Drip Irrigation Watering System Stock Photo
Not to mention, drip irrigation is efficient and effective at watering plants deeply, rather than only wetting the top few inches of soil. Deep water means deep roots, and drought tolerant, and hardy plants. All in all, drip irrigation is a win-win – for you, your wallet, the plants and the planet.
Drip tape is a flat type of drip tube. It lies flat on the surface of the soil but swells when compressed and filled with water. Drip tape comes with pre-installed drip emitters spaced 6, 9, 12, 18, or 24 inches apart. Each sprinkler will dispense a set amount of water – from 0.25 gallons per hour (GPH) to 1 GPH depending on the type of drip tape you choose. Drip tape works at lower water pressure (8-15 psi) than regular irrigation (20-40 psi).
It’s important to note that not all duct tape is created equal. After all, drip tape often gets a bad rap as being short-lived or “disposable” because of how it’s used in big ag. However the life of the drip tape depends on the quality and thickness of the tape used. We chose the thickest commercial grade drip tape we could find (15 mil), which is estimated to last up to 10 years when taken care of!
We chose to use drip tape in our irrigation system for watering the bed for several reasons:
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Oh yeah! Drip tape can be placed on the surface of the soil, buried up to a foot underground, or covered with a waterproofing membrane without sealing. Better yet, masking tape (or other waterproofing materials) can protect it from damage from the sun and extreme heat, thus extending its life.
In order to keep the top of our soil well-watered, we plan to keep our drip tape fairly close to the surface of the soil but we will cover it with a little soil and a humectant. Regardless of how you choose to install the drip tape lines, make sure the emitters are facing up.
I recommend watering with a watering can in raised garden beds in a way that irrigates the entire bed, with rows no wider than 12” apart. After all, one of the many advantages of growing in raised beds is that you don’t have to follow the planting of hard rows, unlike traditional garden plants. Plus, the more moist the soil, the more worms, nematodes, and beneficial bacteria will thrive! Last but not least, watering in a wide area around the plants (as opposed to directly at their base only) encourages the roots to explore, grow bigger and wider. That leads to bigger, healthier plants!
In our 4 × 8′ raised garden beds, we installed drip lines about 9 inches apart evenly across the bed – or four lines total per bed. Each row of drip tape has .25 gph emitters every 6 inches. This gap will provide good water distribution throughout the bed, allowing us to plant along the drip lines or in between. It will be great for close-cropped plants such as root vegetables.
File:blake Davis Farms In Lamb County Near Littlefield, Texas, Showing Open Ditches With Black Tubing Tied Into Pvc Pipe For A Sub Surface Drip Irrigation System. (24487595993).jpg
It is best to place the head at the short end of your raised garden bed. Then attach drip tape (or other drip pipes and emitters) from the header down the length of the garden bed.
Drip tape our raised beds 4 × 8′, spaced every 9 inches. With 15 emitters per row of 8 ft of drip tape, each providing 0.25 liters per hour, and a total of four rows of tape, that means this bed will receive 15 liters of water in one hour. We would definitely go for the .5 gph drip tape again – and then run the bed a little longer as needed!
It depends! Each garden will have different water needs based on its unique climate, season, temperatures and rainfall patterns. It also depends on your incubation practices, and how thirsty your plants are. Large, mature plants generally “drink” more water than smaller ones. Soil covered with 2 to 4″ of fine mulch will stay moist longer than bare soil, greatly reducing water needs.
In general, it is best to irrigate lightly, deeply, over a long period of time as opposed to short bursts of water every day. This will promote healthy deep roots and strong, hardy plants. Try to water enough to keep the soil evenly moist at all times, but let it dry out a little between waterings. Well, you never want the soil to be completely dry! But remember that plants breathe through their roots – so the soil should not stay wet.
Get Smart With Drip Irrigation
In our climate, we usually run our raised bed irrigation system for an hour twice a week. The time you run your system will also vary depending on the type of vehicle used. For example, if we used drip tape with .5 gph emitters (instead of .25 gph), we could run the process in half the time.
When sowing seeds directly, plan on providing more or hand watering for the first few weeks. That will help keep the surface of the soil nice and moist during germination and early root development.
Once these radishes have grown a little, a drip irrigation system will provide them with plenty of water on their own. However, right after planting the seeds, I made sure to have water on hand to keep the topsoil nice and moist (especially between the rows of drip tape where it tends to dry out).
As with all types of irrigation, it is best to winterize your sprinkler irrigation system before freezing conditions occur. At the very least, completely drain the system and protect it with a deep layer of mulch. Leaving standing water in pipes or valves can cause them to crack when the water freezes and expands.
Pvc Drip Irrigation Fittings At Lowes.com
Or, to further reduce the risk of damage, people in very cold climates may want to remove the irrigation components entirely – keeping them in a sheltered location during the winter. There is no need to take the whole process apart! Use a threaded adapter at the connection point of each raised bed. Then you can just take it apart, remove all the headers and glue the drip lines together in one piece, and hang it in the garage (or something similar).
The average water pressure in a home is around 40 to 60 pounds per square inch, known as PSI. That’s the ideal pressure for sinks, showers and outdoor faucets. However drip irrigation systems cannot handle high water pressure. Too much pressure can cause “explosion” or damage. Therefore, you should add a pressure reducer to your raised bed irrigation system.
The most effective pressure for common irrigation tubes and emitters is between 20 to 40 psi. Often, a single pressure reducer at the beginning of the system is sufficient (for example, where it co
nnects to a faucet or control valve). Our main irrigation valves already have a 40 psi pressure relief valve installed in the head assembly. Note that lengths greater than 100 feet of ½” irrigation tubing may begin to lose pressure at the furthest point.
However, drip tape requires low pressure, from 8 to 15 psi, depending on the size and specifications of the drip tape chosen. ***In order to maintain good water pressure throughout our large garden area, we kept our main PVC lines at 40 psi but then added a 15 psi pressure regulator inside each raised bed before attaching the drip tape.***
Fast And Easy, Pvc Garden Watering System (for Under $70)
The first pressure regulator in our system reduces water pressure to 40 PSI in the main water supply pipes that feed each garden bed.
Then in each bed, we added an additional pressure regulator to reduce to 15 psi, suitable for drip tape.
Below is a list of items needed to make a
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