Irrigation for raised garden bed

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Permalink Reply by John Walker on August 19, 2009 at 11:38am

Contact Jerry Nichols of kitchen gardeners bluegrass (go to groups and type in bluegrass) He has a great system of overhead watering that you may want to try.
As for big plants (toms, peppers) etc) I hand water, its much quicker.
best of luk
John

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Permalink Reply by Glenn Fletcher on August 19, 2009 at 2:54pm

Mathew
The simplest form of irrigation is to take a two litre lemonade bottle. Cut off the bottom with a sharp knife to make a 'funnel' and drill a small hole in the cap. This 'funnel is inserted into the soil next to a plant that you want to irrigate and filled with water. Adjust the size of the cap hole to suit the flow you require.
This is very useful for newly planted small plants that need that little extra TLC.
To minimise the amount of irrigation you need to do, you need to dig into the soil each winter as much compost as you can lay your hands on. This makes the soil act like sponge.
We have fairly wet climate, but i try only to water at planting time, and again when the produce is swelling on the plant.

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Permalink Reply by Kay Robbins on August 19, 2009 at 4:08pm

Since you are in Arizona you probably will need to water frequently. Hand watering lets your gardeners contol the amount of water by plant requirements. Not all plants need the same amount of water. It also gives them a good chance to check for pests and other problems. If that is not possible, an inexpensive soaker hose could be used and moved from bed to bed to cut down on your expense.

Congratulations on getting involved with such a good project at your age. Best of luck on your project.

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Permalink Reply by Matthew Luk on August 19, 2009 at 9:30pm

Thank you everyone for your wonderful responses! Anyways, I looked a bit into the soaker hose idea. If anything, that sounds really easy and convenient. However, since they will be raised garden beds, would a soaker hose work just fine?

As for the water overhead system, wouldn't that get a little pricey? Unless I have completely wrong ideas.

As for the lemonade bottle, I'm not sure if that will work in Arizona, As you said you have a fairly wet climate, however, Tucson AZ have a ridiculously arid climate. It reaches over 110 degrees Fahrenheit so I think the water may evaporate too quickly. Am I correct to assume this? Or it might be I'm picturing the end result a bit differently than reality.


Once again, thank you everybody for your comments and hints ^^ And to make myself sound a bit greedy, I hope I hear more from everyone!

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Permalink Reply by John Walker on August 20, 2009 at 10:11am

Check with Jerry about the price,
probably no more expensive than a good quality soaker hose, you'll just put sweat equity in it.
pax
John

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Permalink Reply by chris w on August 22, 2009 at 5:47am

I garden in a similar climate as yours, yours is a smidgen drier. I prefer soaker hoses to all other solutions other than microsprinklers. One thing you can do with a soaker hose is COVER the hose with mulch, then mulch all exposed dirt. This will really help retain the moisture in the soil. I use soaker hoses/mass irrigation for all plants, then add extra water to the ones that need it. Other climates do not compare well with desert climates - even the dry air zaps the moisture out of the plants. I mulch continously.

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Permalink Reply by Matthew Luk on August 22, 2009 at 11:42pm

Thanks! If time allows you, would you be generous enough to share a picture of your irrigation system with me? I'm still new to this and its hard for me to picture what it would look like. I think a visual will help me grasp what I need to do. If I am asking for too much than I must apologize. But then again, all these positive responses made me greedy to what I can expect :)

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Permalink Reply by chris w on September 1, 2009 at 11:47pm

I'll try and uncover something... it takes me a long time to post pics because I'll have to do it somewhere with a better internet connection. To get an idea of micro sprinklers - go to home depot (or lowes) and ask them about "funny pipe" - that's what you use for micro sprinklers. They work really well in this climate and are super duper easy to set up. I learned how at home depot! (just walked the isle, and asked the guy in the orange apron questions)

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Permalink Reply by David Brownlee on September 5, 2009 at 3:47pm

Agreed chris on the soaker approach. I threaded a good soaker between my hedges in Denver (a really dry climate) and it worked great.

I don't know what a good soaker hose costs these days but as my Dad always said "it isn't much money unless you don't have it".

So...here's how to make a soaker hose cheap. Find an old garden hose - get one from a neighbor when they are upgrading (how I did it)...or go to the dump...or just buy the cheapest one you can get. All you need is a decent connector. Then get an ice pick or a good knife. If you use the ice pick punch holes about every six inches - if you use a knife make it twelve (knife holes are bigger). Note: when punching the holes use a rock or a log as your purchase - NOT your knee :-)

Then find a stick which has a diameter smaller than the interior of the hose to begin with and larger at the other end (de-bark it with a knife). Cut it to where there is about 6 inches inside the end of the hose and a few outside. That makes the plug. Jam the plug in and wrap a coil round the outside as tight as you can to make a seal. It won't be a perfect seal no matter what you do - but that's OK....it will just be the end of the soak.

A soaker like I described takes more maintenance - you have to check the plug every time to make sure it doesn't blow out - but it's inexpensive - and it works....if you have access to 2-part epoxy glue you can coat the plug with that....wrap it...then let it sit for a day to set up....then forget about it....no need to check.

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Permalink Reply by Matthew Luk on September 3, 2009 at 6:03pm

Thanks :P

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Permalink Reply by Mike Taylor on September 25, 2009 at 7:01am

Hi, Matthew

We are also putting in community gardens and I am insisting on (or at least strongly suggesting) drip systems for use in our raised bed gardens. We will push the folks to use the system I use in my own gardens. This uses row-drip tape, special fittings to attach the tape. The fitting fit onto standard poly drip line.

The tape comes on a roll (I buy 1,400' rolls) and in bulk it costs about 3 1/2 cents per foot, fittings are $1 to $1.50, and the delivery system header is standard tubing.

I show the parts and talk about the water savings on this page, How to install a drip irrigation system. Hope this helps!
Mike

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