Drip Watering Systems

Today, while watering the oodles of potted plants waiting to go in the garden, I thought about the energy I spend doing this chore daily.  Last year, I attended a lecture where Kym Pokorny demonstrated how to set up a drip irrigation system for containers.  She made it look simple enough that my intimidation about the project decreased.  This year I want to put in drip irrigation so I can stop doing hand-watering chores.  Yet every year I say I am going to do this and it isn’t done.  How silly for me to procrastinate when having a watering system would be fantastic--more time for weeding, planting, or even moments for lounging in the garden.  We are making a holding area for flats of plants to help ease the watering chore.  Even better is put it on a timer and walk away.

Since I am such a n00b, the next few weeks I am researching what I need and the best place to purchase the system. Do I want a kit, or put it together myself? What are the best timers, and many other questions I need answers to.

Comments

[JeanneK]

I love my irrigation systems. I can go away for a weekend and know that the garden is okay. I have both a drip irrigation and soaker hoses. I especially love the timer on the drip system where I can increase the watering times or for longer duration during a hot spell.

The one of the problems I find with my drip system is that sometimes it is hard to fit the drippers into the hoses. The hoses are stiff and getting the drippers to fit can be slow and time consuming work. But it is sooo nice when they are all put together. But watch out when you are digging there next year so you don't accidently cut a line.

Soaker hoses are nice for ease of use. Don't have to put drippers and hoses together. But the one problem I have found is that if you don't have enough hose or loop it enough, some plants may be farther away from water than they want to be. This factor comes into play if you are moving plants around and the hose placement doesn't work as well.