North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["Dennis Norton" <dmnorton@royaloakfarmorchard.com>]

Randall,

We have over 11,000 trees we irrigate with drip-irrigation from 
http://www.trickl-eez.com/.  I have installed several additions to our 
system that includes 2 pump houses and 4 wells.  For your needs, you will 
only need a minimal amount of drip tape with emitters spaced about every 18" 
apart.  Do not use soaker hose or any other type of hose that you cannot 
control the flow rate.

You can get what you need at Home Depot in the Toro line of products.  Here 
is your planning guide:
http://www.toro.com/sprinklers/pig.pdf.  Use the 
http://www.homedepot.com/prel80/HDUS/EN_US/jsearch/product.jsp?pn=162318 and 
you should have no problem. Everything you will need is at 
http://www.toro.com/sprinklers/bsd/index.html It is the most similar to the 
Trickl-eez system we have used for over 10 years.  The emitters are spaced 
for you and the folks at Toro will help design your system for free.  You 
can probably set it up for about $100 including fittings, etc.  Be sure to 
use the Model: 53618 - 1/2" Hose w/ Emitters since those emitters are spaced 
at 18' intervals.

Depending on your water source, all you will need is 20 to 25 psi to get the 
amount of water needed for your trees or maybe less.  If it is greater than 
27 psi, your tape can blow apart at the connectors.  We are running 450' 
rows + at 25 psi and will blow some apart from time to time if we get a bump 
up to 30 psi.  If you need more assistance, e-mail me and I will be glad to 
assist.  If you let me know what your water source is and the proximity of 
your trees to the source, I can lay it out for you if you would like.  Hope 
this helps.

Dennis Norton
Royal Oak Farm Orchard
http://www.royaloakfarmorchard.com
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Randall Burd" <burdrs@comcast.net>
To: <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Sunday, April 02, 2006 6:11 PM
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.