packyderms_wife
Neither here nor there.
I see there are many choices out there, I'd like a set up soaker hoses for our three raised beds. Suggestions on which one to buy and which ones to avoid?
…… Automatic Garden Waterer
- Thread starter packyderms_wife
- Start date
kyrsyan
Has No Life - Lives on TB
I don't know where you are, but I avoid soaker hoses after the heat made them ineffective one year.
I used sprinklers last year. I would go out in the morning and turn them on and control the water level so they only watered the plant area. If I get the chance this year, I'll be making watering hoses and setting them under the mulch layers.
I used sprinklers last year. I would go out in the morning and turn them on and control the water level so they only watered the plant area. If I get the chance this year, I'll be making watering hoses and setting them under the mulch layers.
packyderms_wife
Neither here nor there.
I'm in central Iowa, we've been in an extended drought for at least three summers now. I need to do something to improve our yields.
kyrsyan
Has No Life - Lives on TB
You will probably be fine with soaker hoses. I'm in the deep south.
packyderms_wife
Neither here nor there.
we've used soaker hoses in the past with zero problems, what we haven't used is an automatic waterer.
dawgofwar10
Veteran Member
Which Juan are you going to choose?
Crusty Echo 7
Veteran Member
‘Jose
packyderms_wife
Neither here nor there.
Well I was thinking of going with this greek sounding one, I hope Juan isn't offended!
dawgofwar10
Veteran Member
Generally, you have 3 selections depending on the area needed watering. Big Juan, Little Juan and his other brother Middle Juan. Forget about Jose, last he was seen was shimming up a flag pole to watch a baseball game, kept climbing and climbing till everyone exclaimed…. Jose, can you see..Well I was thinking of going with this greek sounding one, I hope Juan isn't offended!
packyderms_wife
Neither here nor there.
I have the hoses, just need the automatic waterer so I don't have to stand outside at 5am every morning watering the garden!
tech
Veteran Member
I have been using this for four years now. It feeds a four-way manifold that the soaker hoses are connected to. till on the original batteries, too.
Orbit 1-Outlet Hose Faucet Timer 56619 - The Home Depot
The Orbit 1-Outlet Electronic Watering Timer will turn your hose faucet into a programmed sprinkler system in minutes. No more dead plants because you forgot to water them. No more soggy lawns because
www.homedepot.com
packyderms_wife
Neither here nor there.
I have been using this for four years now. It feeds a four-way manifold that the soaker hoses are connected to. till on the original batteries, too.
Orbit 1-Outlet Hose Faucet Timer 56619 - The Home Depot
The Orbit 1-Outlet Electronic Watering Timer will turn your hose faucet into a programmed sprinkler system in minutes. No more dead plants because you forgot to water them. No more soggy lawns becausewww.homedepot.com
Thanks
packyderms_wife
Neither here nor there.
Best of luck with your garden!
Thanks, it's in a sorry state of affairs right now, it's covered in snow.
But come Spring we're going to make some major changes, and we also joined a local CSA just in case those changes do not yield a decent harvest this year.
packyderms_wife
Neither here nor there.
Yep, this is what we're hoping for, the last three summers have been a bust and it's time to do something different. So doing some upgrades in the garden, and a CSA, and probably still buying pickling cucumbers by the bushel from a local farmer. We grow herbs and kale really well, I've given up on tomatoes because of the chipmunks, insects, and birds.
packyderms_wife
Neither here nor there.
I need about two bushels of green beans, and one bushel of yellow wax beans to put up for the coming years meals! That's going to be my main priority this year, that and figuring out how to keep the slugs out of my raised beds.
It's probably gotten stupid expensive, but a few years back I found some copper tape. Stuck it to the tops of all the raised bed boards, and as long as I didn't let plants grow over it to the ground, no slugs got into the beds.
I also laid scrap boards on the ground just outside the beds, and picked them up in the morning, scraping any slugs into a container of water and diesel fuel. DO NOT feed them to chickens... they can carry deadly parasites.
Summerthyme
dioptase
Veteran Member
Sluggo is your friend. Rated safe for organic gardens. Sluggo plus also deals with sowbugs and earwigs.
dioptase
Veteran Member
I also wanted to say that there are other choices than soaker hoses, which I'm not fond of. (I've had them clog, and I suspect the food safety of them.)
Ignoring potted plants, our garden is irrigated using either sprinkler heads or netafim drip, depending on the situation. If you don't want to go whole hawg on an irrigation system, but just want something that you can hook up to a hose, then consider using netafim vs a soaker hose. The netafim tubing can be connected to something that you can connect a hose to:
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bv1D6ULKqdM
These guys trying to install it in a raised bed, as fed from a hose.
I suspect that there needs to be a water pressure reducer somewhere between the faucet (or hose) and the input into the netafim, which may be part of the reason for their leakage. How to Install your Netafim Drip Irrigation System
Our netafim was installed by our hydrologist and garden helper, so it is connected ultimately to the irrigation system, not to a faucet or hose. I'm sure there's a pressure reducer in there somewhere.
All that said, it IS water efficient, and it DOES do the job. One of the places where we use the netafim is in/on top of my raised bed iris/daylily seedling beds. I irrigate them for maybe 7 minutes, twice a day, two days a week, and the plants grow well. (The "maybe" is because we sometimes tweak things seasonally. These beds are well composted so that helps with retaining moisture, AND they are mulched with redwood mulch.)
I should point out that in my seedling beds, the netafim is laid out in a grid pattern, with one plant inside each of the grid squares of about 6" x 6". The netafim is cut such that each of those 6" sides has a drip hole in it. (So basically the entire setup is pieces of netafim connected together into a grid using their connectors, all run from one line which attaches to the irrigation system.) Your setup/layout and irrigation timing for your raised bed will necessarily vary, depending on what you are growing, and also on your climate. While we irrigate those beds in a grid pattern, we use the netafmin elsewhere in straight lines to irrigate property line hedges. The irrigation there is run for 2.5 hrs, twice a week, so you see that you will have some trial and error figuring out what is right for your situation.
Ignoring potted plants, our garden is irrigated using either sprinkler heads or netafim drip, depending on the situation. If you don't want to go whole hawg on an irrigation system, but just want something that you can hook up to a hose, then consider using netafim vs a soaker hose. The netafim tubing can be connected to something that you can connect a hose to:
These guys trying to install it in a raised bed, as fed from a hose.
I suspect that there needs to be a water pressure reducer somewhere between the faucet (or hose) and the input into the netafim, which may be part of the reason for their leakage. How to Install your Netafim Drip Irrigation System
Our netafim was installed by our hydrologist and garden helper, so it is connected ultimately to the irrigation system, not to a faucet or hose. I'm sure there's a pressure reducer in there somewhere.
All that said, it IS water efficient, and it DOES do the job. One of the places where we use the netafim is in/on top of my raised bed iris/daylily seedling beds. I irrigate them for maybe 7 minutes, twice a day, two days a week, and the plants grow well. (The "maybe" is because we sometimes tweak things seasonally. These beds are well composted so that helps with retaining moisture, AND they are mulched with redwood mulch.)
I should point out that in my seedling beds, the netafim is laid out in a grid pattern, with one plant inside each of the grid squares of about 6" x 6". The netafim is cut such that each of those 6" sides has a drip hole in it. (So basically the entire setup is pieces of netafim connected together into a grid using their connectors, all run from one line which attaches to the irrigation system.) Your setup/layout and irrigation timing for your raised bed will necessarily vary, depending on what you are growing, and also on your climate. While we irrigate those beds in a grid pattern, we use the netafmin elsewhere in straight lines to irrigate property line hedges. The irrigation there is run for 2.5 hrs, twice a week, so you see that you will have some trial and error figuring out what is right for your situation.
packyderms_wife
Neither here nor there.
I already have the soaker hoses.
Barry Natchitoches
Has No Life - Lives on TB
Some may want to kill their slugs, but I choose to catch them and bring them over to my chickens for a treat. Great protein there. I put boards down on the edge of the garden bed, and after a few days, will usually find a few slugs.
I catch them. put them in a cup, and bring them over to my girls. They can take it from there.
Martinhouse
Deceased
Barry, Summerthyme has said that snails carry parasites that are horrible for chickens. You might want to check and see if that holds true for slugs as well.
Donna_in_OK
Veteran Member
Look into wicking beds.