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The Tucson Gardener |
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Adding Drip To be honest I've always been a little skeptical about drip irrigation. First, because I've noticed drip systems malfunctioning on numerous occasions. I've seen water shooting out the end of tubing where an emitter was missing. I've seen puddles of water where the main line has broken, and I've seen wilted, sickly looking vegetation from clogged or broken emitters. Another thing I've noticed, on more than one occasion, is drip systems being carted off to the landfill -- the main tubing, emitters and all. Are they worn out? Maybe they failed to do their job. I don't know. No doubt about it, a drip irrigation system requires regular maintenance. The system I have in my vegetable garden needs constant watching and the oozing hose clogs with our hard water residue after a couple of years and needs to be replaced for optimum performance. The plastic fittings dry out and crack or freeze in the winter and break and need to be replaced. I always keep extras on hand. But even with all its faults, drip irrigation does save water and time once it's installed correctly.
One Stop Shopping? Instead, I went home and found my 50-foot tape measure, a pencil and piece of paper. I measured the distance from my source of water to the first citrus tree then the distance between each tree. I drew the location of my water source and each of my citrus trees on the piece of paper and then wrote down the distance between each. It didn't take a mathematician to figure out I'd need 100 feet of main 1/2- inch poly tubing. More important I had a drawing to show the sales clerk where I would eventually purchase my drip system. I went to a store that specialized in selling irrigation products. As I walked in I quickly spotted a drip irrigation display on the wall and boxes of drip supplies at the front of the building. I was the only one in the store so I figured I'd get all the help I needed. I handed the sales clerk my drawing, told him what I wanted to do and asked, "So what do I need?" We got as far as the first fitting that would connect to my hose bib. I pointed to a thing on the wall and said, "What about that? Won't that work for distributing the water under my trees?" A phone call was made by the clerk and I was told those weren't carried in stock. I quickly decided if I was new to drip irrigation this wasn't the place to get the help I needed. The supplies were there and if I knew what I wanted there would be no problem putting a system together. What I couldn't get on this day was good advice. I made my excuses and headed for the door. Editor's note: The company went out of business. My next stop was a nursery that sold drip irrigation supplies. The first thing I
checked was to make sure there was adequate choice of supplies and there was. Then I stood
around and looked at emitters and things and then put them back in their place expecting
someone to come and offer assistance. When that didn't happen, I asked a sales clerk if
anyone could help me with the drip irrigation "stuff". A minute later a young man
was there to help. I handed him my drawing and again asked, "What do I need?" "Mostly mature," I said. "Do you have tree wells?" "Yes," I said grateful someone finally asked me the right questions. I made headway in my search for a new drip irrigation system. He showed me an emitter that made a spray pattern but I wanted an emitter that dripped. We decided on a bubbler and he said I'd need four around each tree, 24 in all. Next he said I'd need 100 feet of 1/2 inch tubing and a pressure regulator plus two end caps and a tee fitting to finish off the main system. I agreed. Then he said I'd need two barbed tees for each series of emitters around the trees. I couldn't see how that would work in my mind so I said, "Can you draw that for me?" Good thing I'm a show me kind of guy. I needed three barbed tees for each tree, not two. By now we piled the things I needed on the counter at the checkout stand. My helpful clerk went to help someone else and never came back although I wanted to ask a few more questions. I had the clerk ring everything up and I thought the bill was high. If I'd been smart I'd have looked at my receipt right then and there. Fortunately I looked at it later and found I'd been charged for 500 feet of poly tubing instead of the 100 foot roll I took home. I went back and got credit for the $22 plus sales tax over charge. There was no reason for the over charge because the correct price was on the tubing and I had no excuse for not checking the bill sooner.
The Hard Part The next step was to put the 1/2-inch polyethylene tubing in the trench and bury it
leaving a small section exposed near each citrus tree where the 1/4 -inch tubing could be
attached to run the emitters around the trees. It pays to be careful not to get any dirt
in the tubing which could cause clogging problems later. Once the main line was in place
and secure it was time to start running emitters.
I used a small hand held tool to dig a shallow trench around the tree for the 1/4 - inch tubing. This was work done on hands and knees so I used an old seat cushion to protect my knees. Once the narrow trench was dug it was a matter of poking a hole in the main tube attaching the 1/4 - inch tubing and then spacing for the bubblers. The actual emitters would be attached once the system was turned on and flushed. Time consuming, hard on the knees but simple enough except for the occasional large stone that required removal. Once the main tubing was attached to the hose bib and the water turned on to flush the system, I went around attaching and adjusting the bubblers. I quickly learned why they were called bubblers. There was a pleasing bubbling sound as the water hit the soil. I knew the system was on and working.
All in all, I was satisfied with the end result. The emitters seemed to put out plenty of water to satisfy the citrus tree's needs. It'll be interesting to see if the rabbits nibble on the exposed emitters. They've chewed holes in both gray and green garden hoses in the past. Editor's note: Within a week rabbits had pulled up some of the 1/4 - inch tubing around the trees as they dug out holes to lie in a cool, moist spot. Not long after that I found 1/4-inch tubing that had been chewed through and one partially eaten emitter. If the feeding frenzy continues I may have to pile stones around each emitter to discourage the bunnies. A drip irrigation system is a lot like tinker toys. You can play with them mixing and matching the parts to get the results you want. You can add valves that turn off and on automatically and you can even add a fertilizing system. Your desire and the size of your gardening fund are your only limits.
I figured my first drip system cost about $6 a tree not including the labor. It was worth it and I hope to install another more sophisticated system in the fall so that the entire front yard is under drip irrigation by the summer of 1999. (1998) |
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