Irrigation system recommendations

[Sue_CT]

Can anyone recommend a simple but reliable irrigation system for pots? Never put one together before but I will be doing this for Mom for Mothers Day. 20 pots should be plenty. Needs a timer. Currently looking at a Raindrip system on Amazon. Thanks!

[pepperhead212]

How large are the pots going to be? I have a number of potted plants on the deck, and the smaller ones I put drip emitters on, but the larger ones I put a circle of porous soaker tubing, which waters more evenly, but I had to adjust the speed of watering, by putting a small valve before the pot. Otherwise, watering too fast will result in water leaking out the bottom, before the soil is eventually watered.

The smaller pots I put emitter(s) on, and again, slower is better, and 1/2 gal/hr is good, though there are also some 1 qt/hr ones are available. 2, or maybe 3 placed eventually around the pots, and adjusted with the valves - good idea to have a valve going into each pot, as different plants use up water at different rates. This way, before the water starts on the whole set of pots, you can turn off any that don't need watering at that time.

20 pots might be too much to run in a straight line in 1/4" tubing, so you'll probably have to run at least 2 lines out of a piece of 1/2" tubing.

Almost forgot - the saucers I put these in are shallow ones, not the deeper ones, I use indoors, before putting them outside. This is because it's not good to have them sitting for long in water like that. This way, even when it rains, and it is flooded with water, I keep some pieces of thick string sitting in the saucer, running out onto the deck, and the capillarity draws the water out fairly quickly by the next day, they are empty.

[Sue_CT]

She probably won't have near 20 pots but the kits I am looking at usually say they will cover up to that much. She will likely have 2-4 tomato plants in individual pots and a deck box with flowers, one raised bed on the deck and a few herbs. The tomatoes obviously larger pots, the herbs small and raised bed about 2'x4', last year had squash in it. I am basically looking for brands if that is important to get something that will be reliable, and I like the idea of a kit just for ease of buying although not a complete deal breaker. If it doesn't matter and I can just order any old brand/kit and they will likely all be about the same then I will just shop price and convenience.

[zeuspaul]

Check out Drip Depot
https://www.dripdepot.com/category/drip ... -gardening

[Cole_Robbie]

I haven't tried them yet, but dram dribble rings look neat. The ring can also be made from scratch with tubing elbows to make a square, with an emitter on each side. The idea is to wet all of the pot instead of just one spot.

[zeuspaul]

You need a plan. What types of emitters? Length of run? Connecting to the water supply? Pressure regulator? Filters? Kits can be a temptation but you generally get more than you need and likely not everything you need.

My drip systems that use city water don't have filters. City water is usually very clean. I don't use pressure regulators on any of my systems. I regulate the pressure by the number of emitters in the line, more emitters equals reduced pressure.

[Yak54]

I haven't tried them yet, but dram dribble rings look neat. The ring can also be made from scratch with tubing elbows to make a square, with an emitter on each side. The idea is to wet all of the pot instead of just one spot.

I like the sound of this one. Might be just what my 15 gal grow bags need

[zeuspaul]

A ring can also be made with dripline. This is tubing with built-in emitters. You can get 1/4 inch dripline with 6, 9 or 12 inch spacing.

I do everything 1/2 inch with Perma-Loc fittings which are easy to fit together and undo for reuse. However a 1/2 inch set-up might be too big for @Sue_CT 's situation.

[Sue_CT]

I don't KNOW ENOUGH to make a plan, lol. I don't know anything about different emitters. That is all above my education and pay grade at this point. Are you all engineers something, lol? I want to run tubing, attach it to a timer attached to a pressure regulator, stick the little things in the dirt and turn it on. My mother is 81 years old and wants some veggies but has no motivation to actually water or take care of them. I can't be there every day or every time her plants need water so I want to try this. She might decide she doesn't even want to use it or its using too much water. I need SIMPLE not a grand plan with lots of research. We are talking a small investment of time and money that might never even get used again. If it works and she likes it, I can always add or upgrade later and tweak it so that it works a little better for her. I just didn't know if there were some systems that were better quality than others. But thank you for all the suggestions!

[worth1]

It's simple math.

[zeuspaul]

@Sue_CT Simple is better. When I bought my first drip system I felt as you do. Don't underestimate yourself, that was a grand catio you constructed. I am not using anything out of my original kit.
My current system is simpler than the one you are suggesting. All I have is a connection to water followed by dripline which has the emitters built in and then an end cap. To automate my system I would have to buy a timer.

The suggestion for a ring with several emitters is worthy of consideration.

[Sue_CT]

Part of it is she doesn't plan. I am going to pot her plants for her, but she will just point and tell me what she wants where that she has picked up here and there and one or two tomato plants I will likely contribute. She really is not adventurous with tomatoes. She likes Black Cherry and she once asked me, "don't you have any normal round red ones"? lol. So she will pick up a plant or two that fills that definition for her too. So I can't really plan much in advance. Once they are all planted I need to just construct something around them. That is why I figured if I just had a bunch of tubing and emitters I could figure it out that way. You can't really make a plan to irrigate something that isn't planned, can you? Or can you?

[zeuspaul]

A basic plan would be number of plants+/- and the size of the patio to guess the length of tubing needed. Quality? I wouldn't worry too much about quality differences, stick to standard sizes. Drippers drip and tubing carries the water. You most likely want to stick to standard 1/4 barb fittings. You may want to shop quality for a timer.

You just need the basic components. You need to know how you are going to connect to the water supply. A standard garden hose threaded connection is the easiest and most common.

You need to be aware of flow rates. The linked system is rated at 30 GPH (gallons per hour). The emitters are 0.5 GPH. With this set-up you could have up to 60 emitters.

https://www.dripdepot.com/product/delux ... -gardening

The Deluxe Drip Irrigation Kit for Container Gardening can water up to 30 containers. This kit utilizes 1/4" (.170" ID x .250" OD) tubing as the mainline.

*Please Note: This kit does not require a hole punch.

This is a complete, self-contained drip irrigation kit that comes with everything you need to create a working system. The drip irrigation tubing (or tape) in this kit can be cut with ordinary household scissors, box cutter or tin snips. You can view and/or print the detailed installation instructions by clicking on the button below the parts list.

[Sue_CT]

Thanks. I did also look at the Dramm dribble rings and I wondered if I should get a few for the larger tomato pots. OK to mix and match brands and items I assume? I also really like these drip emitters in this video, although this is in australia, I believe. I like the idea of being able to adjust them individually. The little fountain they make is also kind of pretty. I assume I need a pressure regulator but not sure how I know for sure.

https://www.holmanindustries.com.au/diy ... rrigation/

[Sue_CT]

Found out those are called 360 degree adjustable drippers on a stake. I think they would work well for her raised bed on the deck which up on legs and about 4 ft x 2 ft. Then the rings for the tomato plants, and maybe some small emitters for the smaller herb pots. But can all these different things be put together? I think I need pressure compensating because some will be up on her small deck and a few down below on her patio. I think they have similar emitters not on stakes that might work well for smaller pots. Not sure I will be able to do all this off one length of tubing coming off the faucet with a timer.

[Cole_Robbie]

You can calculate the increase in pressure created by the drop in height, and maybe get less flow rate emitters for the downhill part.

And to add even more complexity, look into fertilizer injectors. They are based on flow rate if you get one.

[zeuspaul]

I thought you wanted to keep it simple. Yes you can mix emitters. I reviewed your linked video. To get any kind of flow from those 360s you will need a substantial flow rate. They are using a main line that looks like 1/2 inch and then connecting to the 360 using a punch to reduce to 1/4 inch. Those 360s at Drip Depot have flow rates up to 19 GPH or 38 times a standard 1/4 inch dripper which is .5 GPH.

https://www.dripdepot.com/item/adjustab ... 360-degree
360° and 180° adjustable stream drippers with 1/4" barb mounted on a 5.5” stake, are designed, based on model, to produce a gentle stream with adjustable flow rated from 0 to 19 GPH and a diameter range from 0 to 42” at 30 PSI. Each 360° and 180° adjustable stream Dripper has an adjustable cap that allows for simultaneous control of the flow rate and the wetting area.

I think a 1/2 inch baseline system would be better and more expandable. I am more familiar with 1/2 inch systems. Perma-Loc fittings are the way to go. With 1/2 inch you will have more flow available for various types of emitters. A 1/2 inch system will have 6x more flow than a 1/4 inch system.

To get from 1/2 inch to 1/4 inch start with this Perma-Loc 1/2 inch male pipe thread tee adapter.
https://www.dripdepot.com/item/irritec- ... -half-inch

Then to get to 1/4 inch you could use this Global 1/2" FPT x Barb Tubing Elbow Adapter.
https://www.dripdepot.com/product/globa ... ow-adapter

or Global 1/2" FPT Adapter x 1/4" Barbed Tee
https://www.dripdepot.com/product/globa ... barbed-tee

Emitters work within a range of pressures. Emitters on the lower deck will see more pressure. More pressure means they will have higher flow rates. You may not need pressure compensating emitters. You can adjust the flow per plant by installing more emitters on that plant. Or you can adjust the flow by installing a 1 GPH emitter instead of .5 GPH.

Instead of those 360s think about using 1/2 inch dripline which is 1/2 tubing with emitters built in.
https://www.dripdepot.com/item/half-inc ... h-100-feet

https://help.dripdepot.com/support/solu ... ying-guide

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[worth1]

1 gallon a minute = 60 gallons an hour.
Water is measured at gallons a minute at the source.
Pressure is measured at static meaning no flow.
Resididual Pressure is the Pressure with everything running.
This will be different at the source than it will be at the last emitter due in part to friction loss and pipe or tubing size.
The smaller the tubing the higher the water velocity.
The higher the water velocity the more friction loss.
Depending on the water pressure you may have to put in an orifice to cut down on water flow thus reducing resididual pressure.
Most of these timers or kits come with that orifice.
What you don't want is 70 PSI on the drip system if it doesn't have the emitter count to compensate for it.

[zeuspaul]

@Sue_CT If you install one of those 360s in the system and adjust it to about 10 GPH to get decent flow it will use 10 gallons if used for an hour. If the other emitters in the system are .5 GPH drippers they will use .5 gallons in the same hour. You will over water something and under water something else. Adjusting the 360 to 2 GPM +/- would work but it wouldn't be a 360 anymore, just a dripper.

It would be best to use emitters with similar GPH.

Dripline also comes 1/4 inch and is much cheaper than 1/2 inch dripline. It could be used in a planter and also to make rings around tomatoes.
https://www.dripdepot.com/item/quarter- ... olor-black

[Sue_CT]

Sorry I guess I am biased against drip line. I just can’t get passed that cannot change the spacing along the entire tubing. What would work spacing wise for the built in emitters in and around an 18-24 inch round pot I can’t see also working well in a strawberry pot with herbs in it that is less than 12 inches wide, and a small pot that is maybe 6-8 inches with chives in it and a a foot long bed with larger plants in it like squash. The emitter spacing cannot be changed or tweaked. I can’t see how I can connect all that tubing to the main tubing and keep all the water inside the pots without wasting water. If you have done this and have photo as maybe that would help me understand because it still seems to me that that type of tubing is much more functional for rows of plants in ground or on beds. The video recommends it for raised beds and tree rings, not pots. The spacing is 9 or 12 inches, how would that work in smaller pots 12 inches or less?