I've found a cheap drip-watering system that could potentially take
care of my raised beds. Has anyone got any experiences of these
systems - I find it difficult to believe that a constant drip drip drip
could satisfy the plants, especially during the summer.

"Taz" wrote in message
oups.com...
I've found a cheap drip-watering system that could potentially take
care of my raised beds. Has anyone got any experiences of these
systems - I find it difficult to believe that a constant drip drip drip
could satisfy the plants, especially during the summer.

I have no direct experience but a neighbour spend a small fortune last year
on a micro irrigation system. It works OK but her garden looks like is
something out of an intensive care ward.

Rupert wrote:
"Taz" wrote in message
oups.com...
I've found a cheap drip-watering system that could potentially take
care of my raised beds. Has anyone got any experiences of these
systems - I find it difficult to believe that a constant drip drip drip
could satisfy the plants, especially during the summer.

I have no direct experience but a neighbour spend a small fortune last year
on a micro irrigation system. It works OK but her garden looks like is
something out of an intensive care ward.


I use a drip system on my tubs when I am away. I need to spend a few
days before adjusting so that the water does not waste. Having it on
for an hour a day dripping is usually plenty.

--
Please do not reply to this Email address,
as all Emails are deleted before opened.

I've found a cheap drip-watering system that could potentially take
care of my raised beds. Has anyone got any experiences of these
systems - I find it difficult to believe that a constant drip drip drip
could satisfy the plants, especially during the summer.

They are very efficient. Much less wasteful than a hose pipe since
water is delivered only to the roots. Depending on the type you may
find that you need a filtered water supply if your feed is from a water
butt. I found mosquito larvae otherwise jam the jets. Solar powered
pumps intended for fountains can be adapted fairly easily to provide
pressurised water at 7L/minute. One other thing you will need an
adjustable timer to get the amount of watering right. An hour a day in
the mid evening is a fair starting point.

One very bad feature of hosepipe bans is that it also seems to apply to
any direct pipe based irrigation system. I live in a fairly wet part of
Yorkshire so seldom have to worry about watering the garden.

One important tip is run it for at least a couple of weeks to check
that you have the settings right before you go on holiday. Switching on
and praying is unreliable. I have just rescued a neighbours greenhouse
setup from innundation.

Regards,
Martin Brown

On 18 Apr 2006 10:30:47 -0700, "Taz" wrote:

I've found a cheap drip-watering system that could potentially take
care of my raised beds. Has anyone got any experiences of these
systems - I find it difficult to believe that a constant drip drip drip
could satisfy the plants, especially during the summer.

The drip drip drip will satisfy the plants (an hour of drips addss up
to quite a lot) but the problem I found is that they are very
tempermental. They require quite a bit of fiddling to get the right
time set for the watering and then even more fiddling to make sure
that each drip head is releasing water at a sensible rate. I found the
main problem was that some drip heads would block and release nothing
while others flooded.

Useful to know. Mind you, it's been tippng it down for two days now,
so if they're thirsty there's something wrong!

In message , JB
writes
On 18 Apr 2006 10:30:47 -0700, "Taz" wrote:

I've found a cheap drip-watering system that could potentially take
care of my raised beds. Has anyone got any experiences of these
systems - I find it difficult to believe that a constant drip drip drip
could satisfy the plants, especially during the summer.

The drip drip drip will satisfy the plants (an hour of drips addss up
to quite a lot) but the problem I found is that they are very
tempermental. They require quite a bit of fiddling to get the right
time set for the watering and then even more fiddling to make sure
that each drip head is releasing water at a sensible rate. I found the
main problem was that some drip heads would block and release nothing
while others flooded.

I found that the Tropf Blumat system works much better than the standard
dripper systems, bits are more expensive, but no timers needed, and no
wasted water.

Not common in this country. Two Wests are the only ones who sell it that
I have come across.

http://www.twowests.co.uk/TwoWestsSi...gory.asp?ctgry
=WATER_TROPF
http://www.blumat.at/Weninger_engl/seiten_engl/frameset1_engl.html
http://www.blumat-shop.de/index.php?language=en



--
Chris French

Try a pressure compensating dripper - This will maintain a constant flow even on long circuits. Try webshop below:

blueskieswatersystems.com