More writing with drip irrigation

To squeeze more time out of the week I installed a drip irrigation system to water the garden. It took three days of hard work in the sun. The water feed line and a conduit for the electrical control line were installed in the ground back in the spring.

Lesson one. (It’s a big one) don’t mix parts or supplies from different manufacturers. I read this in a article off the web and it explains many of the problems I had in the past. That did not stop me from buying a Orbit brand hole puncher (it was cheaper) and using it on DIG brand tubing. It did not work. I had to go back to the hardware store and get a DIG brand hole punch.

We ran out of splices for the big tubing. Ran down to get a couple more couplings from the small local hardware store. All they had were made by another manufacturer. My friend stopped me from getting them. They were made by a name brand, but not the DIG brand we had been using. He checked closely and found the diameter of the big tubing the small hardware store coupling were made for was .12 inches different from the DIG tubing I had been using. Don’t mix material from different manufacturers.

Lesson two. Don’t over engineer the project. My friend wanted to run six electrical valves and one hundred feet of white plastic PVC pipe to feed the drip tubing.

The big drip tubing is easier to handle and change than White PVC. I used only one electrical valve and it was plenty. In ten minutes I have water coming out the bottom of the containers.

Lesson three. Be careful punching the hole for the bards (1/4 inch feed lines). Out of 120 drip lines (holes) I had three that leaked where the bards were installed.

Lesson four. The dripper or end of the drip line has to be up against the plant so the water goes to the plant’s roots. The water from the dripper goes straight down not sideways. The plant can dry out with plenty of water going to the container.

Stay strong, write on.               Professor Hyram Voltage