irrigation question

[christinepi]

With the California drought in full swing, I'm wondering whether I could cut back on irrigating my orchard by doing things slightly differently. We're on a well and it's started dropping precipitously. Currently I'm watering 60 minutes once a week. Would it be ok to water every other week, but water 90 minutes instead? That way I would save 25% of water, and it would be a deeper watering. But, of course, also only every other week. Opinions?

 

[Chuck]

With the California drought in full swing, I'm wondering whether I could cut back on irrigating my orchard by doing things slightly differently. We're on a well and it's started dropping precipitously. Currently I'm watering 60 minutes once a week. Would it be ok to water every other week, but water 90 minutes instead? That way I would save 25% of water, and it would be a deeper watering. But, of course, also only every other week. Opinions?

I have the same problem. Last year I switched to totally drip irrigation as I was running my well dry trying to keep up. I even had to reduce my vegetable garden by 50%. I now am still in the drought but now my entire garden is again under cultivation and my water consumption is 1/2 of what it was. Also it is not that expensive to get set up. I started out with RainBird, then RainDrip and have found that DripWorks is the most economical and the best in performance. I use the 1/2GPH emitters

 

[zigs]

Welcome to Gardening Forums

Have you done as much as you can to prevent moisture loss from the surface? A good mulch around the trees would help, also water in the evenings so not so much is lost to the heat of the day.

A deeper watering is much better, if the trees are only getting a surface watering they'll put out fine roots near the surface which stops the water from getting deeper down.

Try the new system, but keep your eye on the trees for signs of stress

 

[christinepi]

I use 1/2" Netafim drip with a thick layer of wood chips on top, and I water in the early morning. But do you have thoughts on cutting back to every other week?

 

[Chuck]

I use 1/2" Netafim drip with a thick layer of wood chips on top, and I water in the early morning. But do you have thoughts on cutting back to every other week?

I use 1/2" Netafim drip with a thick layer of wood chips on top, and I water in the early morning. But do you have thoughts on cutting back to every other week?

I just looked up Netafim and it is basically the same as I use. You say 1/2". What is the water flow per emmiter? My tubing is 1/4" with a 1/8" ID. I have an emmiter every 2'. I too have an orchard, not very big, only 12 peach trees and I have 6 emmiters per tree. I have about 4-6" of mulch out to the drip line and I water about 2' inside the drip line for 12 hours about once every 2 weeks which amounts to about 36 gallons of water per tree per a 12 hour day. I can water all or just one of them, usually 4 at a time. I also move the line every time I water by a foot or so. I believe you will find that watering over a longer period but using less water per hour is very beneficial. You will get a much deeper penetration and the water seems to spread out farther. It gets kind of confusing as to when you last watered so I have a written schedule that I follow if it hasn't rained. Using a small emmiter helps a lot on the draw down time and replenishment of your well. I also have a fair sized vegetable garden and making a schedule has helped a lot. Also I use my pointing finger a lot in determining whether a plant or tree really needs watering at all

 

[christinepi]

All I know it's called Netafim. It's a brown line, and has holes every 4" or so.

My leaning was towards longer/deeper irrigation as well. But I read somewhere that simply reducing the water amount by 25%, but keeping up the weekly schedule, would be better because fruit trees don't send roots down that deep anyway, and because going for two weeks without any watering in-between would cause too much stress. It's confusing to know what's best.

 

[Chuck]

All I know it's called Netafim. It's a brown line, and has holes every 4" or so.

My leaning was towards longer/deeper irrigation as well. But I read somewhere that simply reducing the water amount by 25%, but keeping up the weekly schedule, would be better because fruit trees don't send roots down that deep anyway, and because going for two weeks without any watering in-between would cause too much stress. It's confusing to know what's best.

 

[Chuck]

I don't know what kind of trees you have but I can assure you that fruit trees or any trees for that matter go much deeper than your topsoil and probably subsoil as well. First of all where do you live? You said Calif. but there are many different climates in Calif. and many different soil structures. If you have a 1/2" tube with an emmiter every 4" you are putting out a LOT of water where it doesn't need to be. My fruit trees are about 20' apart. If I understand correctly you are watering a bunch of ground needlessly. As far as stress on fruit trees, at least peach trees, there have been many times that I could not water at all for the entire summer with no rain at all. I didn't have any production but the trees didn't die either. Let me know. I am very interested in knowing all about your experience.

 

[christinepi]

I'm a mile inland from the coast, ca 50 minutes south of San Francisco on loam soil (mud in the winter, concrete in the summer). I put a circle around each tree along the drip line, so nothing gets wasted (the hose that goes between the trees has no holes). And there are no emitters, just tiny holes (or are they called emitters, those holes?). We get lots of fog in the summer months, although lately it's been sunnier than normal (average summer temperature is 55-63; 68 is considered a heat wave and doesn't happen often. Right now it's 66 with a cool breeze). I have apple, plum and pear trees. It's too cold/damp for citrus and peaches. The system I set up has always worked just fine, next to no pests, plenty of fruit on the mature trees. Just right now I'm trying to figure out how to get the trees through the summer (hopefully it'll be back to cooler days soon, so less evaporation).

 

[Chuck]

I'm a mile inland from the coast, ca 50 minutes south of San Francisco on loam soil (mud in the winter, concrete in the summer). I put a circle around each tree along the drip line, so nothing gets wasted (the hose that goes between the trees has no holes). And there are no emitters, just tiny holes (or are they called emitters, those holes?). We get lots of fog in the summer months, although lately it's been sunnier than normal (average summer temperature is 55-63; 68 is considered a heat wave and doesn't happen often. Right now it's 66 with a cool breeze). I have apple, plum and pear trees. It's too cold/damp for citrus and peaches. The system I set up has always worked just fine, next to no pests, plenty of fruit on the mature trees. Just right now I'm trying to figure out how to get the trees through the summer (hopefully it'll be back to cooler days soon, so less evaporation).

That explains a lot. IMO you are watering too often. With that climate I would water about once a month, if that, but when I watereed I would completely soak the entire area. Just remember that you can;t water too much but you will kill your plants if you water too often. On trees it takes about 2-3 years to finally kill it watering too often. On the apple tree I don't have a clue but on the plum keep it just SLIGHTLY moist. On the pear leave it alone and never prune it. Let it do its thing and give it minimal care. If you water it all the time you will weaken the tree and more than likely end up with fire blight which will be fatal. Oh, make sure your tube is under the mulch so evaporation is not a factor

 

[christinepi]

I water 560 gallons in one watering. I have 38 trees in that orchard. About half are mature, the rest is from 2 to 4 years old. The Netafim circle sizes vary according to the trees' crown size. With that in mind, would you say I water too much? Too little? Considering the temps and the soil here?

 

[Chuck]

I water 560 gallons in one watering. I have 38 trees in that orchard. About half are mature, the rest is from 2 to 4 years old. The Netafim circle sizes vary according to the trees' crown size. With that in mind, would you say I water too much? Too little? Considering the temps and the soil here?

I think you could safely reduce watering to once a month but double the amount of water. I would divide up the trees into 1/4 and do it on a weekly basis to help your well.

 

[Becky]

Welcome to the forum, great to have you here!

Looks like zigs and Chuck have you covered