soaker hoses v/s drip irrigation,

I am researching these two methods to see which best suits my needs.
In reading about both systems, one concern I have is cost and how often the systems have to be replaced?
My budget is not large and I want to make the best choice.
I don't mind paying for more if it will be higher quality and last longer.

Thank you,
Anita

I can't speak to how long either one will last, but in terms of water usage the drip irrigation is probably going to be more efficient for you if you have plants with varying spacing and some room in between them (it allows you to put drippers just where you have plants). The soaker hose has holes in it at regular repeated intervals, so if you're growing row crops or you have things close together with fairly regular spacing then the soaker hose would work fine and takes a lot less time to set up. But if you've got more irregular spacing then you may be wasting water since it'll be coming out of the soaker hose in places where you don't have plants.

I use soaker hoses in my vegetable garden which, of course, is planted in rows so it works well and is economical. However, I discovered through trial and error that the sun will quickly destroy the hoses. My solution is to let the crops come up a few inches, lay the soaker hoses down, and then put a thick layer of mulch (I use wheat straw) around the plants and it covers the hoses too, protecting them from the sun. I take them up at the end of the garden season and store until the following year.

A good point where they are going ?
Since one place I will set it up will be in a vegetable garden, it sounds like the soaker hoses would work best there.
On the other hand where I have a more permanent garden, the drip irrigation might fair better.
Lots to learn here and I appreciate both your inputs.

Anita



This message was edited Feb 2, 2009 7:49 AM

I still think that pvc is the way to go. The hoses will eventually deteriorate and all those flimsy drip lines and heads can be a nightmare when they break or get clogged, etc.

Well Jasper Dale, you bring up another good idea, which I had not thought of.

Thank you,
anita

jasper...could you elaborate on your pvc system...sounds interesting...virginia

My Dad used a pvc system in his large vegetable garden. He connected the pvc into a "U" shape. At the beginning there was a connector that he could screw the hose into. He drilled small holes in the pvc that faced down. When he needed to water, he connected the hose & just turned on the water. It lasted for many, many years - at least 10. When I got him a simple manual timer, he was really in heaven.

I just re-read the beginning of the thread, so from what I gather, you have 2 areas that you want to irrigate: a vegetable plot and another area with permanent plantings. Right ?

This is sort of hard to advise you on since I haven't seen your space, or how big of an area, etc., but I'll try to give you some basics and some examples.

You could conceivably do a pvc system which is buried underground which you hook your garden hose up to. This will enable you to have an in-ground system WITHOUT having to hook up to your main water pipe. It will also eliminate the need for valves, timers, etc.

However: (and this is the key thing here) You will be limited to how large of an area you can water using this method because you won't have the needed water pressure that you would normally have IF this system were tied into your main water line. But, it does work. You just neede to have a hose bib close by that you can use as the water source...and a hose of course.

Again, I have no idea how large of an are you're talking about or it's proximity to a hose bib.

I did my entire garden area using this method. The reason for doing it this way is because 1.) my garden is a series of small planted areas separated by paths 2.) different areas require different watering needs and 3.) to tie into the main water line would have entailed an enormous amount of digging, going under concrete walkways, skirting tree roots, gas lines, sewer lines, etc. not mention endless feet of supply pipe to get to each area.

Doing it the way I did it allows me to have the BASICS in place at each area to which I simply attach the garden hose. I can alter it at will and not have to be adding valves, or dealing with pressure issues.

My space is only 2500 square feet. Within that square footage I have this maze of paths and beds. It was/is infinitely less labor intensive to irrigate it by this method, as all I need to do is walk over and attach the hose to each section. The water pressure coming from the one hose bib is more than adequate to operate each area.

There is no big mystery to laying out a pvc system like this. It's all basic geometry. The fittings are easy to work with. I used 1/2" pipe for mine and it is totally adequate. I only buried the pipe 8" deep...sometimes not even that. Yes, I glued the pipe, but it's easy to do. A pvc pipe cutter is worth the $ and saves a huge amount of time.

I can add extensions if needed (without cutting and gluing pipe ) and the heads can be swapped out depending on what is needed. Since I re-shape areas on a regular basis, I don't have the hassle of that flexable tubing running all over the place, getting stepped on, etc. as with a drip system. For some people, this works fine, nothing wrong with that at all.

I mainly grow roses and perennials, so I don't use spray heads like you would for a lawn...the heads I use are strean bubblers which don't wet foliage and flowers...the water shoots out horiontally, not up and out.

My soil is water retentive yet drains well, so this system works well.

There is a large variety of heads you can use...it just depends on what your needs are and how much time you want to invest in watering. It would take me an inordinate amount of time to hand water this small area and each section.

I don't grow vegetables, but I did a similar system for a client who had a vegetable garden and it works fine.

Again, it depends on how large of an area you're dealing with.

I'll try to post some photos later which shows how I did it. (Have to take some first ! )

I did try the soaker hose method, but found that the hoses take up surface space and I was forever adjusting them, redirecting, etc.

The basic premise of this method is that it is a "compromise" between hand watering and an underground system. It's underground, but not tied into your water line, yet all I do is hook the hose up to it. Each section is attached to the hose using a "hose to pipe" fitting.

Don't know how else to explain it without a video or a drawing !

There ya go ! jomoncom has just perfectly described a way to do a similar system for a vegeatble garden.

Some additional thoughts from a newbie (of sorts).

1. If you use PVC pipe, be sure to get the type which is thick-walled, so as to reduce its risk of breakage or splitting, especially if you lay it above ground. I've used the 1inch pipe in the past which was thin walled and it split easily or especially if I managed to step on it accidentally. Thick-walled pipes! Another issue is that it seems to me that those pipes resting above ground are at greater risk of deterioration due to their placement. Someone with more experience might speak to this.

2. I have a rose bed which is L-shaped. 100 ft at one side, 20ish at the end. I added a room between my house and detached garage, thus closing off the water spigot to all but the rear yard, unthinkingly . . . more than 100+ feet away more than 20 years ago. I had to move the water out there somehow. I did so by running contractor-quality (grey colored) hose from the house out to the rose bed and hanging a 4-spigot end on it. This hose, BTW, is 20+ years old and has had full water pressure on it the entire 20+ years without any problem with leakage through either the hose or the fittings, amazingly. I've run PVC pipes and black hoses off in the past, but as I said, had limited success with them due to broken lines and clogged drippers et al.

However, I do have a standard garden hose hanging off of one spigot with a timer between them. I have found that the easiest and most reliable watering for my roses has been to "irrigate" (?) them with a simple bowl and narrow water trough (? hope this makes sense) leading from one to the next bowl to the next bowl, etc etc etc. The lot is appropriately ummm slanted as befits a corner lot, from my starting position to the end of the first 100 feet. However, natural "filled-bowl-syndrome" (LOL) will obviously cause the water to keep moving on down the line, as is evidenced by my success in the bed which runs perpendicular to the starter bed. I simply pick up the hose end and move it 15 feet to that bed when appropriate.

The timer, of course, limits my risk of over-filling the bowls into the beds outside the bowls, though of course, at times I have "lost it," as it were. Not as a rule, though, as I try to keep the timer appropriate to the length of time needed to fill my bowls. It is a rather primitive means of watering, perhaps, but being brought up by a ag engineer born and raised in Maine in pre-WWII, I learned some rather primitive yard care techniques. And, I am home throughout the summer and it is simple enuf to manage. Moreover, the timer limits my risk of water loss. I'm not sure that I lose much due to my troughs, but feel sure someone might speak to that problem. We do not currently pay for water here, but that's coming along soon and I must ultimately and soon pay attention.

Not sure this helps, but thought I'd pass along my primitive irrigation system.

Linda

You're right about the thick pvc pipe. It's called "schedule 40". I should have mentioned that when I wrote my mini dissertation ! Thanks for pointing that out, Linda.

HEY! If you'd caught it chances are I'd not have posted my dissertation, JD! LOL

BTW, I'd love for you to comment about that contractor-grade hose being under full water pressure for 20+ years with no apparent failure. I mean . . . it just blows my mind that it continues to remain intact.

LB

If it's not in direct sun all day long, it should last that long. Look at how long washing machine hoses last !

Well, now that you mention it, a section of hose about 30 feet long does lie in full sun (except any Bermuda which might cover it from time-to-time) from 1 pm to sundown. Hmmmm, seems I've been lucky with the contractor hose. Twenty-plus years for any kind of hose is amazing to me! Sure speaks to how cheap an expensive hose is, doesn't it?

On the other hand, I've lost hoses in my washing machine twice due to age . . . the age of the rats looking for water and discovering it in my washing machine hoses. LOL!! Gotch'a!

Linda (now that was fun!!)

Thank you all for your added comments,

The vegetable garden is about 5ft by 50 ft and is about 200 or so feet from the main water source.
One of the problems I did not mention ( I forgot) is that I plan on re doing the entire hill.
That is build 2 retaining walls one down at the bottom & another mid hill along with amending the soil along the way.
Its a massive project which I have not under taken yet. But is in the future. So in thinking about that , at this time , the pvc may not work for that.

However,
It will in the future and that is a grand idea.

Thanks again,
Anita