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Irrigating Vegetables Automatically
On this page find information about installing and using drip and soaker hose irrigation in home vegetable gardens, including:
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- How drip systems and soaker hoses irrigate vegetables in a home vegetable garden.
- Installation instructions for attaching automatic timer-control valves to control drip irrigation and soaker hose waterings in home vegetable gardens.
- How many vegetable plants each control valve or watering circuit can irrigate with drip or soaker hoses.
- A step-by-step demonstration of installing an automatic timer-controlled valve and runs of irrigation hose to a water faucet or hose bib for watering vegetables.
- A step-by-step demonstration of installing a soaker hose with an automatic timer-controlled valve to a water faucet or hose bib for watering vegetables.
About Automatic Irrigation Installation
Irrigate vegetable plants with drip systems of tubing with emitters or by using soaker hoses at the base of the plants to release water slowly at the plants’ roots and avoid erosion and runoff. With an automatic timer, they assure your garden receives water regularly.
Connect a drip-irrigation system’s tubing to your site’s existing waterlines, using a manual valve for a simple system or with a timer-controlled valve for automatic irrigation.
Each of these short spurs deliver water to plant directly at their roots. A single watering circuit may serve as many as 32 plants at the same time, depending on your household’s water-supply feed pressure and flow rate.
Next, bury one end of a run of 1/2-in. (12-mm) or 3/4-in. (18-mm) drip supply hose at your garden.Trench from the garden to your site’s source of water, then lay hose along the run and backfill the trench.
For manually controlled systems, all that’s needed is a hose-bibb connection to your home’s water supply. For full automation, install a remote irrigation controller and one or more irrigation valves near your water supply.
Route water to each of your plants using 1/4-in. (6 mm) drip tubing and emitters or drip hose equipped with spaced emitters every 4, 6 or 12 in. (10, 15 or 25 cm) that work in the same manner as miniature soaker hoses.
Attach the drip tubing to the supply hose with punch-through connectors. Keep each of the plant-delivery runs short—no more than 4 ft. (120 cm) long—so that the entire run receives proper water pressure to operate at its rated capacity.
The drip emitters at each plant are rated in gallons-per-hour (liters per hour) of run time at a standard pressure of 60 psi (4.2 kg/cm2). Choose emitters and run time lengths appropriate to each vegetable you water.
Step-By-Step Instructions
Drip Irrigation and Soaker Hoses
Choose either the drip-irrigation or soaker-hose option. Gather a battery-powered hose controller valve/timer assembly, fittings, and appropriate hoses.
Follow the steps demonstrated below for easy assembly of an automatic vegetable garden irrigation system using drip or soaker-hose delivery of water.
How to Install Drip Irrigation
Choose drip irrigation to spot-apply water to plants. Acquire and attach a battery-operated automatic controller and a valve assembly at a hose bib near your vegetable garden.
Connect a 1/2-in. (12-mm) main drip feed line to the valve unit with a hose clamp. To serve two areas, place a Y-fitting between the valve and each feed line.
Attach several 1/4-in. (6-mm) emitter lateral lines to the drip feed line using punch-through couplers, each leading to a group of vegetables. Keep lines less than 3 ft. (90 cm) long. Serve up to 4 plants with T-connectors.
A variety of drip irrigation emitters offer spray, bubbler, and drip options to serve different vegetable plants. Choose the emitter that best suits your plants, noting their flow rates.
How to Install Soaker Hose Irrigation
Use soaker hoses to apply water slowly to row and hill plantings. Acquire and attach a battery-operated automatic timer and valve assembly to a hose bib near your planting beds.
Attach a standard garden hose feed line to the valve, running it to the start of the soaker run.
At your garden bed, couple the soaker hose to the garden hose feed line, laying it out to emit water at the base of rows of your vegetables.
Use one or more Y-fitting hose-bib connectors at the coupling point to lay multiple lines of soaker hose from a single garden hose feed line.