Will this drip irrigation system do the job?

[therose75]

Hi All

I just purchased this irrigation kit https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

This is my first year as a grower and although things are going well I'm wondering if this kit will be sufficient for the 20 odd tomato plants, 3 cucumbers and 2 courgettes that we have have currently growing.

I guess my doubt stems from the fact that the tubing is very small. I'm not sure exactly what the diameter is but it seems like the type of tubing you extend from a larger tubing.

So, before I start making holes I just wanted to know if it will provide enough water for my veggies while we're away.

I've included a couple of pics - you can just about see the size of the tubing compared to a standard hose.

Thanks in advance for any help

[Bigmallly]

I don't know what you mean by "start making holes". You just cut the tubing where you want to incorporate the dripper & put the tube onto one of the spikes that just pushes into the ground near the plant, but in answer to your question, yes it will water your plants while you are away. Best used in conjunction with a timer.

[Jay-ell]

I havea similar irrigation system which is connected as BM illustrates in my green house feeding 13 toms, aubergne, peppers, several melon/water melon/cucamelon, a sweet potato and 3 bananas all in separate containers. It's linked up to 2 water butts using a timer and is working really well.

As only a drip comes out each end at a time you don't need a massive flow and wide diameter and, onve I dropped the pressure reducer, work fine on the low pressure of my butts.

You can adjust the amount of water a plant gets in a number of ways:-

• The amount of time the timer is open for
• The number of times the timer opens the tap
• Twisting the end of the dripper head to let more/less water through
• Multiple drippers per plant/planter

Because it comes out in a steady drip rather than a constant stream the water soaks into the soil easier and doesn't soak the entire surface so that less water is lost to evaporation.

The only problem I've really had is a buildup of gunge on the mesh filter after several weeks which is easily sorted once you realise what it is.

You may experience a loss in pressure between the first and last drippers in a chain - to resolve this I run a "main" using the thin tubing and T pieces just below the level of my taps and branch off the dripper lines from this.

[therose75]

Thanks guys! That gives me a much better idea of what I'm dealing with.

Where does one put the teflon?

[Jay-ell]

Teflon tape is usually wrapped around a screw thread before screwing the adapter onto it to help seal it - this looks to have a hoselock connector so I'm not sure.

[Bigmallly]

As Jay says, play safe and wrap the tape around any threaded parts, this will seal the joints.

[Bigmallly]

[therose75]

I don't know what you mean by "start making holes". You just cut the tubing where you want to incorporate the dripper & put the tube onto one of the spikes that just pushes into the ground near the plant, but in answer to your question, yes it will water your plants while you are away. Best used in conjunction with a timer.

Yeah, I was under the impression that you make a hole in the tube then poke the sprinklers in. But that only seems to be the case for the wider tubes.As I understand it now, with the micro tubes you just branch tubes where you need them and attach the sprinklers/drippers to the end.

[Bigmallly]

You've got it Mrs Rose, now go put them in situ & enjoy your holiday................

[ESBkevin]

Old pro's tip.

Make one extra drip/nipple and put it over a half submerged milk bottle or similar.
It will tell you exactly how much water went to each plant.
Empty it ou daily and start again.

Timers are great, but did it really do it today?

Not my tip by the way, just copied from a professional grower.