Thanks, I'm a complete novice and I plan to think for a while before spending.

As far as you know, can you just push a 1/4" barb into the end of a 1/4 dripline hose, for example to add one sprayer onto the low-pressure end of a dripline?

Or should I buy 1/2" dripline if I want to push in extra emitters or sprayers, and then be able tyo insert them anywhere in the run length?

My first hope was that I could buy cheap barbed fittings and 4-way compression fittings from Dripworks, and just turn my old garden hoses into a branched network with multiple available hose ends, and sprayers plugged right into the garden hose.

But I have 45 psi water pressure, so any barbed Tee (say 75 cents) would need three hose clamps ($3+). No savings there!

And those non-restricting Dripworks compression fittings I drooled over only fit the exact OD of Dripworks mainline hose.

Also, sprayers and emitters might not "plug into" my garden hoses without leaking (rubber hose, I think, not vinyl.)

Go with 1/2" main-line so you can put sprayers or hose anywhere you want. Also, if you run 1/4" everywhere you may not get enough flow to all the emitters/hose.

Get this for your spigot:

http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/...

Run this off your waterline and then you have 4 manual zones to work with off the water main.

No you cannot punch a hole in the garden hose and put in emitter. The rubber is too flexible, once you punch a hole it expands when you pressurize the hose and does not seal around the 1/4" barb. Trust me on this and do not ask how I know. You have to run the 1/2" poly tubing main-line and then off that run your emitters or hose.

The thing I have found with garden hose is that it will eventually burst. They can not handle the pressure and will eventually fail. Never had one last more than 2 years before replacing. I have replaced all feed lines with the 1/2" poly tubing mainline from DIG.

You could even go with 3/4 inch poly pipe.

We switched from 1/2 inch poly pipe to 3/4 inch poly pipe when replacing pipe (it can split after 25 years in Colorado sun).
The 3/4 inch pipe seems to be more common and so are the fittings at the big box stores. We can find it for less than the 1/2 pipe.

Thanks, Paul and Tabby!

I DID buy one of those brass 4-way manifold with valves, and set it aside until I coujld find cheap ways to cutg up my hoses and still have enoguh overall length. Now where did I PUT it?!?

Unfortunately, my spigots are very badly placed, so that the first task olf the mainline will be to relocate the often-used manual valves from "way over there" to a usefull part of the yard. I hope that the "mainline" tubing and fittings can take constant 45 psi!

This convinces me to lay out the basic "network" with mainline "black" tubing. I can run relatively short pieces of garden hose from valved hose fittings on that mainline.

The dripworks "1/2" mainline had 0.600 ID (closer5 to 5/8ths than 1/2). But if Home Depot 3/4" poly mainline is cheaper, I'll certainly get that.

My plan was to use non-restricting "compression" Cross and Tee fittings as much as possible so as to give the 0.600" mainline plenty of flow without excess pressure drop (I have 45 psi, they tell me). It is not a large yard, but I do want enough pressure left at the end of the runs that I can use a hand sprayhead or breaker wand for spot-watering.

Maybe I will use 3/4" mainline, depending on price.

I have a pressure regulator at the tap that keeps my drip system down to 30 psi.
That said, I have a valve off of the 3/4 poly pipe with a hose fitting way around the other side of the yard (1 acre) that I hook a hose to and use for running a had sprayer and sometime a sprinkler that waters a 20 foot wide garden when the drip zones aren't going.

Being very cheap, I was hoping to get away without filter and pressure regulator. Small yard, pretty flat, not worried about precise control since I plan to keep doing some hand-watering, and city water clean enough to drink.

If 45 psi is going to blow barbs out of mainlines, I guess I will re-think that plan!

I already see that some mini-sprayers wouldn't like 45 psi because they would put out a fine mist that can blow away or evaporate. I'm thinking that "droplets" are better than mist.

Trish said:
>> What's the radius of each emitter?

You may laready know all about this by now, but here's what I've picked up.

I agree that the area each emitter will irrigate depends on your soil and how long you run the water. Sandy soil will make the wet spots narrow and deep.

If you mean what diameter opening do drip emitters have, it depends. The "pressure compensating" or 'semi-PC" drippers have relatively wide channels that wind around and kink back and forth. Thus a wide channel can still restrict the flow, but resist clogging. It'd also called turbulent flow.

The cheaper the dripper, the smaller the orifice, and the easier to clog. For the cheapest spray-head, an orifice diameter of 0.36 mm (0.0315 inches or 31 thousandths) gives 6.6 GPH at 29 PSI. Since mist drippers are 1 or 2 GPH, they must be really small!

The suggestion I see is that most drip systems can get by with relatively coarse filters like 120 - 150 mesh. However, T-Tape systems require finer filters like 200 mesh.

It seems to me that 200 mesh passes particles somewhere around 5 thousandths of an inch. I'm guessing that is quite a bit smaller than any PC drip emitter! But what do I know?

You know what? We have wanted to run drip tape in our garden rows but I cannot understand any of this stuff so I keep using soaker hoses.

I've mostly just followed the advice in Dripworks, except where I'm too cheap to "do it right".

I think I will probably end up talking to someone there and give them my garden dimensions. I think I will have issues though because the garden rows run east to west and each end, west end and east end, gently slope up. AND, the south to north (south is where we enter the fenced garden area) slopes quite a bit more down.

Someone suggested I try this:

Slope is tough. If I did the arithmetic right, every 2.3 feet of rise subtracts one PSI.

If you want super-uniform watering, and have 10-15 feet of elevation difference, you would need the somewhat more expensive "pressure compensating" drippers or emitters. They emit roughly the same amount of water over a wider pressure range, say 20-30 PSI.

Or use the cheaper emitters and just add a small sprayer to the high spots, to make up for the reduced dripper flow there. If overhead watering causes leaf damage or mildew, you can use sprayers on short takes that spray UNDER the leaf canopy.

Or run the band-forth tape or dripline or soakerhoses East-West, but add a few runs North-South where the pressure would be lowest.

If your spigot is at the TOP of your slope, the pressure would get higher as it runs down the hill. In that case you could add a pressure regulator every 10-15 feet if you need to keep the pressure consistent within 5 PSI. If 10 PSI is 'close enough", you could stand a 23 foot rise or fall before worrying about it.

I totally love it! Now tell me the wheels are geared to the flow so it "walks" as it waters!

A "water-bot"!

Those must be really small, consistent holes. If you could do that in 1/2" PVC pipe, you might not need any T-tape!

RickCorey said:I totally love it! Now tell me the wheels are geared to the flow so it "walks" as it waters!

A "water-bot"!

Those must be really small, consistent holes. If you could do that in 1/2" PVC pipe, you might not need any T-tape!

Hmm, I may have to try this for real now!

I've never really tried to figure out what the slope is. I suppose that would be something I should do, or have DH do for me. Here's an early photo of the garden I think you can get an idea of the slope...






And from the east:

I would have said "relatively gradual AND downhill from the spigot".

I estimate the 'drop' by standing at the low spot and noting where my gave falls if I look "level" at a spot uphill. Then call that a five foot drop (or whatever). Climb up to that spot, and note the next 5' point.

You might start small and only irrigate the bits that need most frequent watering. Then buy more stuff as you discover what you like best.

Maybe run a 3/4 mainline down to the N-S-E-W middle of the garden, THEN go through the regulator and get 30 PSI (or whatever) right in the middle. Then run 1/2" lines up and down near the middle of the garden. Run T-tape left and right along a contour so that whole run had the same pressure.

If the pressure is still too different at top and bottom, use tape with 9" spacing at the top of the slope, and 12" spacing at the bottom.

Or run the 3/4" mainline all the way to the bottom at full pressure, and add one regulator 1/3 of the way from the top, and another regulator 1/3 of the way from the bottom. Fan out from there.

I've been using $8 Senninger regulators like these hose-thread ones:
http://www.dripworks.com/categ...

I'm still just starting with irrigation. I'm experimenting (fooling around with gadgets) to see what works and what I like. I have very small, scattered, irregular beds but my legs aren't sturdy enough to spend more time standing than I have to. I want to save my mileage for weeding and hauling compost and mulch.

I think I'm just too tired to "get it" tonight anyway. But the " run the 3/4" mainline all the way to the bottom at full pressure, and add one regulator 1/3 of the way from the top, and another regulator 1/3 of the way from the bottom. Fan out from there." makes sense. Never thought about doing that.

And top 10 rows on each side are the "vegetable" garden and the rest are my "cut flowers," plus comfrey, asparagus and raspberries so I could still use drip on the most important of them like the asparagus and raspberries. They do get the run off from the rain too and this year has been very rainy.

I really should figure this out before next spring because if it is a dry year I waste a lot of time hand watering.

>> I waste a lot of time hand watering.

Me, too. I enjoy it, but if I do a through job, I use up my legs' millage for the day just watering.

If you don't mind sprinklers and sprayers getting the leaves wet, it might not take very many widgets to water a wide area. I think the biggest fans of drip tape have to worry about evaporation due to the expense of water.

I enjoy it as well, but there is always something else staring me in the face that is just as important. We have used sprinklers in some areas, especially when planting cover crops. So, a little bit of everything. But I think I will explore the drip tape more.

And Trish, sorry to have "taken over" this thread.