Home Garden Drip Installation Techniques, Ideas

Home Garden Drip Installation

Today, let us talk about home garden drip installation techniques, tips, and ideas.Setting up a drip system in your garden is an esy task. The drip irrigation system is a comfortable way of watering your garden. It will supply the water to the plant roots directly by decreasing the evaporation and loss of water because of the flow of wind. You will need to connect the drip to a timer and you will your garden watering itself in an automatic way with very less upkeep. In this article, we will discuss how to install a drip system in your garden or home garden drip installation techniques.

Planning a drip system for your garden:

Well, if you have good control of your garden, you can easily work on home garden drip installation. Read further for finding information on how home garden drip installation works.

• The first thing you will need to do for installing a drip system in your garden is to divide the garden as per its water requirements. Before you buy all the supplies, you will be required to know what you need exactly. You will need to sketch a map of your garden or the spot you want to start drip irrigation. Then, start dividing the mao into several spots depending on the following factors
  • The water requirements of every plant. You will need to divide them as medium, heavy and light.
  • Shade levels of sun. If all the plants in your garden have the same watering requirements, you will need to use exposure to the sun in order to divide the garden. Plants exposed to full sun will require more water than the plants which are exposed to partial shade.
  • You will need to consider any variation of soil in your garden.

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• A drip tube which is typical will reach up to the length of 250 feet or 450 feet if the water will enter the line at its center. If you require more than one drip tube, you can start installing a lateral lie with more drip tubes extending from it at several spots. For gardens which are a lathe, you can make use of a mainline which is pressurized rather than the lateral line and also take into consideration looping it in a complete circle which will allow you to make the length twice to 1000 feet. Sketch the layout which is proposed on the map.
  1. Ideally, each and every drip tube should work in an area with similar water requirements.
  2. You can also choose distribution tubing as an alternative to drip tubing. This will reach a maximum length of 35 feet. You can make use of hanging plants or potted plants for the prevention of clogging.
  3. Normally, the mainline will run along the length of the garden or around the complete perimeter for the properties which are large.
• After that, start dividing the garden into watering zones. The drip emitters and tube diameter will help in the determination of the maximum system gallons per hour. For meeting the water requirements of your garden, you should divide the system into different zones. By the installation of the zone control valve in each and every zone of your garden, you can send the water flow to one or two zones at the same time. It is always better to install the valves near the zone center so that it will push the water out at uniform pressure in all the directions.
  1. If the drip irrigation system you are installing is a permanent one, it would be worth the cost if you go with an electric valve which will get hooked up to an irrigation controller. The valves which are manual are too long for operation and are frequently by mistake left operating for longer than intended.
  2. The drip irrigation system equipment you are purchasing should always include the tube length which is recommended and also GPH. You can also make a calculation of this on your own by making use of calculations of hydraulic flow.
• You will need to make a decision on the delivery method of water in your garden. There are different ways for water delivery from the drip tubing to the garden plants. You will need to take up a determination of what to use in which spot of your garden. Drip emitter is the common option in most of the drip irrigation systems. This is a line with a small diameter and is attached to the actual tubing. Punch holes which use a drip irrigation hole will punch anywhere along the length so the water will start flowing towards the garden plants. Below are the drip emitter types.
  1. Micro-sprinkler heads: These will be between sprinklers and drip irrigation. These are the sprinklers which have low pressure and are not that efficient. But these are harder that they will not clog. This feature would be useful for the areas which have hard water. They will do well in the areas which are shaded and for the plants which love mist.
  2. Pre-installed emitter lines: This type of drip tubing will place the emitters in a uniform way. These will be suitable for orchards, crops, and rows of vegetables. It will also work for shrub beds and other sites which are planted in a dense manner and even under turf if the installation is done in a perfect way.
  3. Porous pipe: This is one of the cheapest alternatives for drip tubing along its complete length with no other requirement for the maintenance of water pressure rate of control. This is generally not recommended as it will clog very easily and will also have a shorter length. You should never combine with other emitter types.

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• After that, you will be required to narrow the drip emitter type. If you have decided to choose drip emitters, there are several types to select from. The turbulent-flow emitters which are of the basic model are a good alternative, but you will need to take into consideration the below options in a few situations:
  1. Before that, you will need to make a note that irrespective of the emitter time you select, it should be flushing on its own so that it will be clear when the zone is shut down.
  2. Make use of the drip emitters which compensate pressure for changes in elevation over 6 feet. The pressure-compensating label is not regulated so you will need to check for the information of the product and get a confirmation on how it works with the rate of flow you wish before purchasing.
  3. The drip emitters which are adjustable will waste the water and are prone to flooding if not checked in a frequent manner. It is generally better if you go for the installation of different emitters which are standard and color-coded with varied strengths.
  4. The turbulent-flow emitters are a cheap option for all the other purposes. Emitters like a vortex, the diaphragm will work fine. These variations are not that important than the differences which are mentioned in the above points.
• Plan the rate of flow and spacing: Now it is the correct time to check the number of emitters you require. Each and every emitter has a specific rate of flow generally expressed in GPH. Below are some basic guidelines based on the type of soil.
  1. Sandy soil: This soil will get divided into grains when you rub between your fingers. Space 2 GPH emitters with a distance of 12 inches in between them.
  2. Loamy soil: The soil quality will not be too much loose or too much dense. You will need to place 1 GPH emitters with a distance of 18 inches in between them.
  3. Clay soil: This is dense and will be very slowly absorbing water. You will need to place 0.5 GPH emitters with a distance of 21 inches between them.
  4. If you are making use of micro-sprinklers, you will need to place them 3 inches distance from each other as described in the above points.
  5. For other plants with high requirements of water, you will go with the installation of two emitters which are spaced in a uniform manner around the root zone. Do not combine emitters with different rate of flows on the same drip line.

Equipment purchase for your drip system:

Apart from emitters and pipes, you will require a plastic fitting for every connection along with an end cap or flush valve for every drip tube. In addition to this, you will require an air vent on the lateral line. This will get opened when the zone shuts down to help the emitters to flush. Before that, make sure that you are reading the instructions which are mentioned in the next section for extra equipment required to connect the system to the source of water.

1. 1. You can make a comparison of all the threads and sizes before buying. You will require adapters to make a connection between the pipes of several sizes or to get hose thread attached to pipe thread.
   2. If you are making use of a lateral line, use tubing which has black polyethylene.
   3. If you are making use of mainline, select piping which is made from copper, galvanized steel, PVC which is sturdy or polyethylene which is heavy. Then bury the PVC for protecting it from sunlight.
   4. The type and size of your pipe will help in the determination of the rate of flow which is maximum. The 200 PVC pipe of 1 inch will be large enough and also supports a water flow of 12 gallons per minute. If your supply of water has a rate of flow which is higher than that, then improve the pipe sizes and zone valves as per that.

Water supply connection for your home garden drip installation:

• Installation of the mainline with a backflow preventer: Each and every irrigation mainline should be its own closed system with backflow assemblies which prevent any contamination back into the supply of drinking water. Your backflow assembly has to stop all the backflow from both the back-siphonage and back pressure and comply with all the local code and laws.
• Hooking up a controller: If you wish to start watering your garden automatically, you can install an irrigation controller to a location which is comfortable. You will need to wire this to each and every zone valve making use of direct burial irrigation wire and also wire splices which are of waterproof. You can put any wires above the ground in conduit.
• Drip tubing will be clogged very easily because of minerals, rust and other types of particles present in water. You can make use of a mesh which is having a size of 150 or higher and is rated twice the water pressure which is expected.
• Connecting a pressure regulator if required. It can also be called a valve which reduces pressure. This will reduce and regulate water pressure in your irrigation lines. Installation of this into your system will have a water [pressure above 40 PSI.
• The lateral line has to be fitted if required, If more than one drip line will run from this lateral line, you can go for installing your PVC lateral line. Each and every drip line in the garden area will run from this specific pipe.
• Make sure that you are not forgetting about the protection of your lateral line from the sunlight by making use of aluminum tape.

Attachment of the drip watering system:

• You will need to first assemble the drip lines. You can make use of a tubing cutter in order to cut the drip tubing to the lengths you want. You will need to push each and every drip tube into a connector and also go with attaching the connector to your lateral line or regulator of pressure. Now lay out the drip lines on the garden surface.
• Make sure that you are not burying your drip lines, or they can end up being chewed by gnawing mammals. You will need to start covering them with mulch if you want to hide them after the installation is completed.
• You can also add control valves prior to each drip line if you wish to adjust or shut each of them.
• Now the drip lines have to stake in their place. The drip lines have to be secured by making use of garden stakes which are ordinary ones.
• Now, it is time for the attachment of emitters. If you are making use of drip emitters or micro sprinklers, you can go with attaching these along the drip lines. Make use of a punch tool which is small enough for piercing it into the drip tube. Then after this, start inserting the emitter into this hole tightly.
• Make sure that you are not making use of a nail or any other object which is improvised which may have chances of creating a ragged or leaky hole.
• The end of each drip tube has to be capped. Attachment of a flush valve to each and every drop tube has to be done for the prevention of water being leaked out at the end. You can also just blend the tube and shut it down. These are the tools which will make it easy for inspection and also clean the tubing which is clogged.
• Now, it is time for testing the system. You will need to set the timer on manual mode and switch on the supply of water. The adjustment has to be done to the control valves until the release of slow and steady water from the emitters. Once the release is done, the timer has to be set as per the requirements of your garden. The complete system has to be checked for any leaking and repair if required.
• For the connections which are made from metal to metal, you can wither fo by wrapping the threads with the help of a Teflon tape, not more than thrice, or you can also go with the application of a little amount of paste made from pipe thread which is also called as pipe dope. Make sure that you are not using too much of pipe dope as there are chances that it may worsen the leaks mainly with the metals which are soft like copper or brass.
• The connections which are plastically threaded will seal in a better way than the metal ones and these are not designed to work with the help of Teflon tape. Make sure that you are tightening them as much as possible by making use of your hand and then make use of a hand tool for the purpose of tightening now more than one complete turn.

That’s all folks about home garden drip installation instructions.

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