Here's an easy way to get water right at the base of your garden plants, very inexpensively! You'll use "offtheshelf" PVC parts and pipe and you'll love the results!

#irrigation #gardeningtips #dripirrigation

Drip irrigation is one of the most effective ways to irrigate a wide variety of plantings around your yardscape. Irrigating only where is needed makes sure the crop gets water efficiently, suppresses weeds, and reduces water use.

PVC pipe, along with the readily available assortment of fittings, adapters, and valves makes it EASY to construct an economical and effective system. While this is not an “off the shelf” system, it uses “off the shelf” parts with no modification.

SEE THE MATERIALS LIST BELOW FOR MORE DETAIL.

Because this is a lowpressure system, only select parts, such as the distribution manifold, and the supply valve assembly, are glued together. All the rest or simply pressed together. It’s simple and effective, and much appreciated when it comes to installing, taking down, and storing the system.

This episode features a multirow irrigation system, perfect for row crops in your food plot. It’s easy to construct, is modular, can be set up in various ways, and lasts for years. It’s easy to set up and take down, allowing a clear area for cultivation, tilling, or plowing.

It’s also readily adapted to raised beds and grow boxes by shortening the lengths of the pipes and constructing a simple distribution manifold.

CHECK THIS OUT! One of the best features of this system is that you can set it up, turn on your water briefly, and the soil will be clearly marked EXACTLY where to plant. Different sets of pipes, with various hole spacing and patterns, allow you to install the right one for the crop you are planting. Plus, you can change the type of spacing, as you continue down a single row.

DirtFarmerJay walks you through some different approaches, lessons learned, and a few techniques that assure you get great results. Keep in mind that this is an imprecise system. You are essentially directing water where you want it to "leak" out! You will need to balance the system once you set it up and flow water into it.

Areas that are getting too much water can be raised a bit (on a piece of brick, wood, or a pile of soil under the pipe). "Starved" areas can be lowered slightly to increase flow but do this ONLY after raising the highflow areas. On longrow runs, you can connect two adjacent rows at the end of the run to also balance the pressure. Lastly, if one side of the whole system is getting more water than the other, you can balance the main manifold itself by installing ball valves to redistribute water. You'll need to experiment a bit!

MATERIALS NEEDED: To make your system just as you've seen it in this episode, you'll need:

* a drill and 1/16" (1.5 mm) bit
* 3/4" PVC pipe (we prefer schedule 40, although lighter gauge schedule 20 will work)
* matching couplings, caps, and tees
* PVC pipe glue (use ONLY on the permanent manifold, not the row pipes)
* As many 3/4" schedule 40 PVC glue in valves as you need to balance the manifold
* 3/4" PVC male adapters (depending on whether you are using slip or threaded components)
* Some type of connection to the water supply this can be a slip glue by hose female thread adapter, or for a more permanent but seasonal connection, a slip x slip PVC union can be used

A special acknowledgment to Matt Bunkall, who presented this system and approach during one of our local Master Garden Association meetings. It forever changed the way we do crop irrigation. Thanks, Matt!

When it comes to garden irrigation, JUST DO IT YOURSELF!