What are my options for fixing this chewed up drip irrigation setup?

This drip irrigation setup for a tomato garden is all chewed up:

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So I figured I'd replace it with something better. But what?

One end is merely bent over and nailed to these boards:

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And, the other end has this cryptic glued? connection:

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I've never worked on drip irrigation before, so I picked up all sorts of 3/4" connections at the box stores:

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At Home Depot, the guy told me that it's normal for the drip lines to simply push in, but this end seems to be really really stuck.

Another elbow nearby has a NPT-to-Hose fitting on the end:

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Would you suggest I simply cut the elbow off and start fresh by putting a garden-hose connection on a T fitting?

Note: The plants are tomatoes, which are just now sprouting, so it has to be a gentle irrigation. I think a soaker hose may be too heavy - but I'm not sure what my options are.

Reply to
Danny D.
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Danny:

I would open your Yellow pages phone directory to "Hydroponics" and you'll find the phone numbers of all the hydroponics shops in your area. Hydroponics uses small tubes like that to deliver nutrients to the water the plant roots are in, and I expect anyone into hydroponics will know where you can get drip irrigation supplies too.

Reply to
nestork

I am assuming that you only have a modest garden and you are on domestic water mains.

The normal way of doing polypipe small scale irrigation is to have one fitting connecting the black poly to either a standard garden hose or an outside hose c*ck. From there everything is done in poly with push (bayonet fittings) unless larger than 25mm (1") when you use fittings with a nut. You run to your garden bed in 3/4" (19mm) or 1/2" (12mm) depending on the length of run and flow required. Generally you would run this down one side of the bed or both if it is wide. You then push either sprayers or drippers into that line.

The thin tubes (about 1/4", 6mm) you have are risers to allow the main line to be buried underground or under mulch, they are not really nesessary otherwise but can off course be used to take a dripper or sprayer away from the main pipe if you like. If using sprayers on the end of risers you can have a problem with keeping the jet at the right direction because the riser will bend and move all over the place unless fixed to a solid object. If you push your jets straight into the pipe you don't have that issue because it is more rigid. Drippers waste less water than sprayers but you need more of them as they don't have much spread. Especially in sandy soil the water from drippers goes down not outwards. It is usual to have a filter at the start of the system to reduce the incidence of blocked jets.

Some specifics about your setup:

- It is usual to terminate an end by folding it over and fastening it somehow (eg with wire), fancy fittings are not required, don't worry.

- With no scale I cannot tell for sure if you have 1/2" or 3/4", did you measure it?

- The junction between the white supply line and black poly is unusual, where the white tube first steps down it has been glued (the blue stuff is glue) I cannot tell about where the black goes into the green tube, if you cannot twist it at all or if you see a blue line round it then it has probably been glued too. The fact that it needed to be stepped down twice says to me either the underground pipe is much wider than required or you have 1/2" poly coming out instead of 3/4", or both.

- You seem to have this white tube buried in a number of places, is it all connected? To what? I don't know the retail prices where you are but here that kind of tube and the fittings for it are much more expensive than black poly and its fittings. I would be heading in the direction of doing most of what you need above ground in black poly. Except for garden forks and lawn mowers it is quite durable. I suspect you will not need very many of the box of fittings. Maybe you can get a refund.

- Sprayers or drippers will both be gentle enough for seedlings.

I cannot advise on the best refurbishment as I don't know how big your garden is or where the white supply line runs in relation to it. I suggest you stop buying stuff and sit down and plan what you want to do and then buy what you need. The manufacturers and vendors of black poly and fittings often have info and plans on the web. Here is one from a TV garden show:

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David

Reply to
David Hare-Scott

To add to David's already comprehensive post, here is another online tutorial about polypipe irrigation;

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Reply to
Farm1

Was it chewed up by critters or just been shredded by rough treatment and exposure to the elements? o_O

TDD

Reply to
The Daring Dufas

ace it with something better. But what? One end is merely bent over and nai led to these boards:

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755.jpg And, the other end has this cryptic glued? connection:
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I've never worked on drip irrigation before, so I picked up all sorts of 3/4" connections at the box stores:
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At H ome Depot, the guy told me that it's normal for the drip lines to simply pu sh in, but this end seems to be really really stuck. Another elbow nearby h as a NPT-to-Hose fitting on the end:
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403769/img/13403769.jpg Would you suggest I simply cut the elbow off and st art fresh by putting a garden-hose connection on a T fitting? Note: The pla nts are tomatoes, which are just now sprouting, so it has to be a gentle ir rigation. I think a soaker hose may be too heavy - but I'm not sure what my options are.

If your tomato plants are just now sprouting, you have a bigger problem tha n water, it's timing. Unless you live in the Florida Everglade tomato grow ing area, tomatoes by now should be in full blossom, not just sprouting. Y ou might also go to the Google groups "rec.gardening" web site,

Reply to
hrhofmann

I use that same 1/2 & 1/4 tubing drip irrigation for my garden and flower beds. Maybe I'm just too simple at it, but if something gets tore up, I just cut that part of the tubing out, and insert a new piece of tubing using the right connectors. I have a lot of my garden in big planters and even some hanging planters, and all of them have 1/4 inch dripper lines going to each planter that has an adjustable sprinkler head. It's all connected to a timer and everything gets watered automatically.

Reply to
Natural - Smoking Gun - Girl

you have a bigger problem than water, it's timing.

Here's a picture of the little buggers the wife planted in the Silicon Valley, oh, about a week or so ago (from store-bought seeds):

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We've never done plants before - so - this is a new (and tiny) garden of about 10 feet long by about 4 feet wide:

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She's hand watering for now - but I figured I'd get the sprinkler system to work for her as a bonus...

But I'm not sure what's the *appropriate* sprinkler mechanism: a. A sprinkler pop-up head? b. A ladder of drip irrigation hoses? c. A soaker hose?

Reply to
Danny D.

Well, this 3/4" and 1/4" irrigation plastic is all torn up (I'm not sure why):

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So, I'd like to start fresh (especially as it's easier to build than to repair), particularly since I have never worked with the stuff before.

Reply to
Danny D.

Hi Oren, Thank you very much for that drawing as I see that whomever it was who originally set up the tubing actually made what appears to be a crude version of a "poor man's figure 8" endloop using electrical tape:

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Reply to
Danny D.

You weren't kidding it was hard to pull out (the Chinese finger lock description is apropos). I had to pull hard, with pliers:

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Of course, I forgot to think ahead; so, um .... I now have a brand new 80psi leak in my plumbing!

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Reply to
Danny D.

Hi Oren, Can I shove it back in?

At least temporarily?

To stop the leak?

Or is it a one-time-only compression fitting?

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Reply to
Danny D.

I'm not sure what chewed it up.

The whole thing predates me. I've been using it to create compost from kitchen scraps, until my wife got the bright idea of actually using the resulting mulch to grow tomatoes.

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The funny thing was, no water came out of the thing (it only dripped a bit at the early connections) so I had figured it wasn't working.

How wrong I was!

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Reply to
Danny D.

The garden doesn't even qualify as modest.

It's about 10 feet long, by about 4 feet wide.

And, it's connected to well water, at a pressure of about

80 psi.

Even the tomato plants don't qualify as modest (yet):

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Reply to
Danny D.

Hi Danny, thanks for posting the great photos! Are you taking the photos and sending from your phone?

Reply to
Guv Bob

I wonder if it could have been damage done by a drain bamaged individual wielding a wild weed eater or a lawless lawnmower? ^_^

TDD

Reply to
The Daring Dufas

Hi David,

I'm sorry. I should have provided more detail.

I just measured the plumbing.

  1. The white PVC appears to be 1" in OD so I'd say it's 3/4" pipe.
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  1. The black plastic appears to be 3/4" in OD.
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  2. The "runners?" appear to be 1/4" or even less in OD.
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Of course, now it's all gone, so, I'm actually at a *starting point* of this!

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Reply to
Danny D.

The garden has two duplicate rectangles of about 10 feet by 4 feet, both of which now have scattered tomato seed planted about a week ago.

It never rains here in California, at least until December or January, and the garden gets a good mix of sun and shade during the day, as it's overshadowed by some trees on the east but not on the south and west.

Each of the two plots has a single 3/4" elbow feeding it, one of which already has a NPT-to-GardenHose Thread male end on it. The other plot now has an open compression fitting to 3/4" poly hose (which needs to be plugged or replaced).

Both elbows are on the same irrigation zone, and there is a whoppingly huge 80psi of water pressure to deal with.

Reply to
Danny D.

This sounds reasonable.

Part of the problem is that the wife took over my kitchen-compost spot, so now, she "owns" this garden (and she has forbidden me to enter it because she feels I end up ruining everything I touch).

At the moment, I've flooded her tomatoes, and, I've tried to save all the tiny 6-inch oaks which, in the end, infuriated her because that meant I ended up digging up more of her young tomatoes.

I've never done "drip" irrigation, so, I'm not sure what's the

*right* way to irrigate her tomatoes (and present it as a surprise to her, all done and working).

I *think* my options are: a. Garden hose soaker b. Poly irrigation c. A sprinkler pop-up head

Reply to
Danny D.

Most likely, it was some big fat guy who was composting kitchen scraps with pick and shovel and rake ... who didn't realize what was buried under the soil prior to his arrival.

Reply to
Danny D.

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