[NAFEX] Advice on drip irrigation
Michelle Horner
shelly2 at wi.rr.com
Sun Apr 2 22:06:19 EDT 2006
I only have 25 trees in a mixed dwarf orchard. I thought I was being so
clever. I mapped out and planned; permanently installed approximately 30 ft
per tree of soaker hose spiraled out from the trunk. I pinned it into place
with wire earthpins that I hand made over winter. I figured I could water 4
trees at a time with hoses from a 4 head diverter; even installed the
requisite pressure valve. Covered the hose with 6 inches of straw mulch.
Did the same in several flower and hosta beds. It was a complete bust. It
took me two summers to be enthused enough to clear the detritus. The soaker
hose was terrible; very irregular in its dripping patterns. I'll do it
again with the more suggested drip heads. I think they have improved these
a lot in the past 2 to 3 years. They've developed reliable plugs for the
hosing if you need to move the drip heads, timers to turn on/off that are
easy to adjust for different times of the year (drought/wet), etc. I just
need to redevelop the enthusiasm to reset the whole operation. SIGH.
Please learn from my mistakes!
Michelle Horner zone 4/5 SE WI
----- Original Message -----
Subject: [NAFEX] Advice on drip irrigation
>I am interested in setting up a drip irrigation system for my fruit
> trees in New Jersey (zone 6). I have two 30 ft rows w. trees spaced
> every 5 feet. I am a little lost about how to start. While I am sure
> that water needs vary by time of year/region, any general guidelines on
> setting things up, volume of water to use, etc. Would a simple soaker
> hose be just as good for my small operation?
>
> Thanks.
>
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