Drip irrigation help

[hithesh123]

I just bought a drip irrigation kit, hooked up the pipes and turned on the water.
The plants close to the tap get more water than the plants that are farther.
Anyone experienced similar problems.
How do I fix this.

 

[gata montes]

Its quite normal to have more water coming out of an irrigation pipe at the start of the run - than it is from the one that is further away from the tap and the only way I have found of solving that - is to loop the piping back to where the tap is - so that the water flows in a circle - although I don't normally buy ready made kits - but do the runs myself - can't see that this idea wouldn't work for you too - but if it doesn't the only other idea I can come up with - is to plant the things that need more water - near the tap and those that need less further away

 

[Becky]

I just bought a drip irrigation kit, hooked up the pipes and turned on the water.
The plants close to the tap get more water than the plants that are farther.
Anyone experienced similar problems.
How do I fix this.

Hello and welcome to the forum! Great to have you here

What kind of kit have you got?

 

[firelily99]

Excellent points gata montes, its not an easy problem to solve. With drip irrigation the point of it is to soak the soil beneath the surface. Just because it looks dry on the top doesn't mean the soil underneath is not wet. Give it a prolonged soaking and you should have the coverage that you need. Just watch out where you step, its not hard to sink in and get stuck after a good soaking.

 

[hithesh123]

Its quite normal to have more water coming out of an irrigation pipe at the start of the run - than it is from the one that is further away from the tap and the only way I have found of solving that - is to loop the piping back to where the tap is - so that the water flows in a circle - although I don't normally buy ready made kits - but do the runs myself - can't see that this idea wouldn't work for you too - but if it doesn't the only other idea I can come up with - is to plant the things that need more water - near the tap and those that need less further away

Excellent idea. Will try it out this weekend. I am sure it will work.

 

[hithesh123]

Hello and welcome to the forum! Great to have you here

What kind of kit have you got?

I've got a 1/4 inch main line with 4mm hose. I have drippers at the end of the hose. Can't adjust the flow rate on these.
I think I should get adjustable drippers.

 

[gata montes]

hithesh123 - Thank you - and I too - am absolutely sure that it will solve your problem
Also think that it would be a good idea to get some adjustable drippers too - in fact I always have them the full length of every one of my runs - but - you will need to check them periodically during the growing season - as they have a tendancy to get blocked every now and again.

 

[Becky]

Adjustable drippers would certainly be a great idea, and together with checking the layout hopefully this will fix the issues you've been having. Let us know how you get on!

 

[headfullofbees]

I just bought a drip irrigation kit, hooked up the pipes and turned on the water.
The plants close to the tap get more water than the plants that are farther.
Anyone experienced similar problems.
How do I fix this.

Gata montes is exactly right.
Turn the whole thing into a ring system, it'll equalise the pressure.

 

[headfullofbees]

The other option, of course, is to arrange your plants so that those which need most water are closest to the tap.

That may sound facetious, but if you're cultivating different plants, say tomatoes and chilis, in a greenhouse, as we have to do where I live, this is the most sensible option, as tomatoes require far more water than chilis.

 

[Lostvalleyguy]

Our drip system has heads that can be screwed down to adjust the flow. This is an advantage, but I find I am constantly wanting to adjust it as the weather changes. If you are able to do it with your system, you might try splitting the mainline right at the tap and adding a few meters of pipe to the line serving the closer plants so that it is similar in length to the one watering the further plants.

 

[ChanellG]

Our drip system has heads that can be screwed down to adjust the flow. This is an advantage, but I find I am constantly wanting to adjust it as the weather changes. If you are able to do it with your system, you might try splitting the mainline right at the tap and adding a few meters of pipe to the line serving the closer plants so that it is similar in length to the one watering the further plants.

This is the issue for me - When it rains here, it can really come down, as in for days at a time. I'd like a set it and forget it system, but sometimes the rain is steady and light, not collecting in a catch basin, and other times it seems it may never stop. Then there are those times when it doesn't rain for weeks, or times like the heat of summer where you need to water the plants twice.