Irrigation Problem Solved

Our irrigation dilemma has been solved. After talking with a family member who is in the business, we determined that PVC pipe would not work as the drip line in our rows. PVC pipe is not as good as rubber drip line because it cannot be punctured for the drip emitters, but would have to be drilled. The lack of give and take of the PVC pipe, as opposed to the rubber drip line, will leave the PVC pipe susceptible to leaks.

Thus, we set out for Lowes to see what we could find and, alas, Lowes proved to be our as they had everything we needed and at a affordable price.

We purchased two 100ft rolls of 1/2 inch rubber drip line, eight packages of four drip emitters, one 25 PSI pressure regulator, one backflow preventor, one package of three end line caps, two female hose attachments for the front end of the line and two 200 foot 16 gauge wire coils. This was enough supplies for two rows. We decided to do two at a time in case we screwed something up or bought the wrong thing.

We started out by wrapping and stapling the wire to an end post one foot above the ground. We then walked down the row trying to straighten out the wire as best as possible and stapling it to each midpost. At the second end post we tightened the wire as best we could by hand, stapled and clipped off the wire.

Next we unrolled the rubber drip line and walked it down the row attaching it to each wooden post with a plastic U shaped holder that we screwed into the wood. At the front end, we left a foot or so of slack in case we want to attach it to a pipe that we run underground and just in case we need a little wiggle room. At the back end, we tied off the drip line by folding it over and
securing it with an end line cap.

The next step is to puncture the drip line with a puncture tool above each vine and snap in the drip emitters. One per vine.

Finally, we walked down the row and fastened the drip line to the wire with plastic fasteners; think the type of fasteners that are used as handcuffs for prisoners.

We repeated the same process for the second row.

We attached the pressure regulator and backflow preventor to the outdoor spigot and then turned on the water. The drip line and emitters worked perfectly and the water drips out at a rate of 1/2 gallon per hour.

The next step is to finish up the last two rows and decide if we want to use PVC pipe to connect all four drip lines together to make watering a one step process instead of the four step process of connecting the hose to one row, watering for an hour, disconnecting and attaching to the next row, watering for an hour, etc.