Gravity Fed Irrigation!

[Bigmallly]

Hi, I've been fortunate to source a couple of large barrels. So taking http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...ice_76836.html a touch further, I cut the tap off a wine bag & glued it into the barrel, left it overnight for the glue to set & have just checked it........perfect. Now back to my point.........I plan to use them in the kite when I eventually get it up but am a tad stumped as to how to use it. I have considered the following:

Assuming the barrel will be sat on some kind of platform (not sure of the height yet).

Soaker Hose - Due to it been gravity fed, I'm not sure the water will reach the full length of the hose.
Irrigation kit - Cheap enough to buy but same problem as above, I don't think the water will reach the last dripper.
Tubing with Aquarium in-line air taps - Same principle as the irrigation kit but the air taps have a screw tap so can adjust the flow.

Have I missed anything?..............as always your advice is appreciated.

[Glutton4...]

Can you put one at each end? That way they won't need to feed as far. For cheapness, I'd go for homemade seep hose, and put fewer, smaller holes at the end nearest the barrel, and larger holes, more frequently at the further end. Although, calibrating it will take you a whole growing season, I'd imagine!

[mothhawk]

How much water do your barrels hold? Will it be worth using soaker hose if the barrel doesn't hold enough water to thoroughly water the planned area? Is it going to be rainwater fed? If so, your soaker hose is reliant on our irregular rainfall through the summer months. A watering can to water specific plants rather than a whole area of ground would be more efficient, surely?

[Bigmallly]

If I had 4 barrels, that may be a good option G4..........maybe I should take up wine drinking......

[Bigmallly]

How much water do your barrels hold? Will it be worth using soaker hose if the barrel doesn't hold enough water to thoroughly water the planned area? Is it going to be rainwater fed? If so, your soaker hose is reliant on our irregular rainfall through the summer months. A watering can to water specific plants rather than a whole area of ground would be more efficient, surely?

I'm guessing around 25lts each. They will be filled by can. I only plan to use them when I am not around along with buried clay pots. I just want them to tick over, it's not a replacement to watering by hand.

[mothhawk]

You going to operate them by remote control then? Open the tap on the hose, and the barrels will be empty before you get home.

[veggiechicken]

Pleased to see that the http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...ghlight=drippy has inspired you BM
A couple or three thoughts for you to ponder.........
1. With 2 barrels you could put them side by side centrally so the hose didn't have to feed the full length of the kite.
2. What would happen if the barrels were placed, one at each end of the kite, but connected by the same piece of hose? Would the water flow to the same level the length of the pipe?
3. I'm sure there was a third crazy idea but its disappeared from my mind - It'll be back

[Bigmallly]

You going to operate them by remote control then? Open the tap on the hose, and the barrels will be empty before you get home.

Better than doing nothing at all.

[WendyC]

If they empty too quickly with the tap open fully then can the tap be half opened? If you can persuade someone at the allotment to open the tap when you are away, they might be more willing/ able to rather than if asked,"can you water my poly tunnel?"

[Bigmallly]

Good suggestion Wendy, unfortunately it's garden growing so nobody is available. Yes the tap can be adjusted so the plants will be drip fed. Unfortunately no remote control is available either.

[AllInContainers]

I'm not sure I understand the "won't get to the other end" problem ...

First off you can have the two barrels side by side and connected at tap level, which means they will both fill and empty at the same rate, so you have a 50l reservoir. Whilst you'r filling it, the water will also be running down the pipe (no point in turning the tap off, as it won't turn itself on without you there anyway) towards your drip system of choice ... so by the time you up and leave, the pipes will be full plus the full 50l of reservoir. All you have to do then is try to get it running at the right rate by tweaking the outlets. Or have I missed something ...?

[Bigmallly]

Because the tubing will be 5 metres long I think the water will come out of the near drippers before reaching the end of the tube. My plan was to use one on each bed in the PT.

[AllInContainers]

Ahh, so it's a balancing issue rather than a feed issue. OK! So options are increase the flow and/or increase the pressure

I don't know if the irrigation kits have any way of tweaking the flow at the individual outlets. Can you not just jer-jer-jiggle it a bit Granville Maybe a lighter and a needle to coax a little bit more flow where it's at it's slowest?

Failing that, you might be able to artificially increase the head of water. Obviously siting the tanks high won't produce a lot of pressure in the capillary pipe that comes with the irrigation systems (the head of water will be limited to the height of the tanks themselves) but ... Imagine sitting the tank high, but that drips into a tall wider diameter pipe - something like a piece of drain pipe. Tap off the bottom of this with your capillary tubing, and the larger diameter tube will deliver a better head of pressure due to the height of the tube. Set the tap to dribble into the vertical pipe to just keep the level topped up, then off to the pub to top your own levels up You'd need to fill the vertical pipe from the hosepipe before filling the tanks, but that's just an increased capacity too

A bit more complex, but that just makes for a more satisfying feeling when it works, OR gives you a more convincing excuse for failure if it doesn't

[Bigmallly]

Sounds a bit out of my league AIC. I think Aquarium in line taps may be the option as they are adjustable...........sommat like this but I grudge paying 2 squid for one connector.......

[Bigmallly]

Have managed to source 12 adjustable adaptors as above for £3.50 so think I'm sorted. Thanks for your comments.