Intense summer sun in the south can deform drip tape and main lines causing stress and blow outs as well. I always run my system on a 5 minute manual every afternoon and check for problems.
That's very good advice, thank you for the comment! You have it exactly right too, in hotter climes the thermal expansion/contraction of drip tape can displace it and, like you noted, pull the tape off of fittings over time. Checking it for problems with a short cycle like you do is a good approach -- that has the double benefit of running some cool water through it. Burying it under mulch (or even soil in some cases) can also help, though that has the downside of concealing issues sometimes. Great comment, thank you again!
Yes to both counts! Drip is is often use with trees (particularly young trees) and is frequently buried under mulch. Make sure foot traffic is careful around the buried tape. As the trees mature they may benefit from a second run of tape on the other side as well :)
Thank you for reaching out! When it comes to barrel height, we find that the highest you can reasonably (and safely!) place it works the best. With that said, some emitters, like drip tape and coupling valves used as emitters, are more reliant on flow than pressure so you can try varying elevations and see where you get the best results. I see you emailed as well, we'll fire off an email with more information :)
Thank you for the kind words! Drip tape can very by roll length, wall thickness, emitter spacing and brand, but as of this writing (4/19/2023), to give you a rough idea, we have 100' rolls for around $17.20 4100' rolls for as low as $259.00. That's for the thicker walled (15 Mil) drip tapes, thinner walled tapes will often be less per foot since they use less materials and can come on much longer coils (up to 10,000').
Right now our 10,000' rolls go for a little as $285.00 and as high as $370.00 depending on brand, spacing, etc. In regards to durability, these coils have very very thins walls -- a Mil is a thousandth of an inch thick, so 6 Mil thickness is only six-thousandths of an inch thick. This makes it very easy to damage -- with that said, drip tape is also very easy to repair by using a coupling. 6 Mil tape tends to be used for just a season or two, whereas the thicker tapes (15 Mil) can last quite a few seasons (though minor repairs will be needed during that time).
I'm wondering why the Premium Drip Irrigation for Row Crops System which I already purchased has a 15 PSI flow regulartor if it's not the correct one. This video states we need a 10 PSI flow regulartor. I haven't set it up yet. Do I need to have it exchanged?
Hello LeiNani! Very good question -- drip tape typically runs at 8-15 PSI, depending on the wall thickness. In our row crop kits we use the thicker walled tape (15 Mil) so the 15 PSI regulator is a good choice for it. Drip tape used to be something used primarily by commercial farmers with very long rows. For transportation, costs of material and ease of installation, they often use very thin walled tape at 6 - 10 Mil thickness. At those wall thicknesses they'll usually regulate down to 8-10 PSI. For the most part, it's all about the wall thickness and the 15 Mil thick tape works great (and won't burst!) at 15 PSI :)
Very good question Gracie, I'm glad you asked so the information will be in the comments. There are two videos that I think, in combination, would work. The first is the "How to Design a Drip Irrigation System (Beginners Step-by-Step DIY Guide)" video -- it will lay the groundwork to show you how to design the system. The second is a full step-by-step walkthrough of installing drip irrigation in raised beds. It's a long video as we wanted to actually show everything. That one is titled "How to Install Drip Irrigation for Raised Beds (Complete DIY System Guide)." I'll link both here (cannot shorten a URL in RUclips comments unfortunately). Design: ruclips.net/video/FJF49lb23b8/видео.html Step-By-Step Raised Bed Guide: ruclips.net/video/1w_e-DFXUsw/видео.html Though both videos are tailored towards raised beds, they work well for other system types as well as they use mostly the same parts and emitter types. :)
@@dripdepot thank you so much! I have a small garden. But think my success has been hindered due to not watering as much as 8 should. I’m afraid of drowning plants. But may not have watered enough in past years. Also I’m in zone 3B. So very short growing season! Cheers
Zone 3b? Brr! I lived in South Dakota for awhile so got to experience those short growing seasons for awhile too. Never had better strawberries though. It's funny you mention this, because we see overwatering a lot more than we see under watering -- if you're under watering, it's fortunately a very easy fix to increase the watering cycle just a little bit. I think I probably overwater too, I've been reducing my cycles a bit each year (and so far, my plants have been as healthy each year, so I might try to go lower again this year).
I have an entire kit from drop depot. My drip tape pops off my permaloks constantly, despite the fact that I have the 10 psi flow restricter just after the filter. I found this video looking for a fix or a reason why this continually happens. Just as described it’s a real problem until someone notices. It happens every watering to at least 2 sometimes 5 tapes
I can confirm the tape should not pop off the fittings! Even at 15 PSI (and even a bit higher on the 15 Mil thick stuff) it should stay on the fittings until removed for any reason. If you can, send us this information at our Contact Us so we can get this up and running as it should with you -- just in case, here's the link: help.dripdepot.com/support/tickets/new Let us know which fittings (takeoff adapters or end caps) and potentially a photo of the installation -- we'll take a look and see if it's something we can spot at a glance or if something is up with the fittings themselves.
Hi I'm new drip irrigation. I have run 1/2" pex pipe to my raised beds. Now I think I may have a problem addapting pex to your tube to tape. is there someone who can help. I have watched several videos' but im still confused and unsure of how to proceed.
We don't currently have PEX fittings, so I'll be somewhat limited, but I can definitely assist and have assisted others with the information. So, it will depend on whether you plan to go from PEX to Tubing or PEX to tape. Most likely all you'll need is two adapters: one a PEX x Threads and the other Threads x Tubing (or Threads x Tape if going directly to tape). Going directly to tubing or tape will depend on a couple factors -- do you already have pressure regulation installed somewhere so you're at the lower pressure drip irrigation prefers? Likewise with filtration. It's no problem either way really, as there's easy and inexpensive solutions no matter which route you need to go here, just want to make sure everything is accounted for :)
I want adaptor to connect the following. 1. My home tap of 1/2” with male adaptor attached to it. So i want 1 Female adaptor for this which can connect to my 1/2 hose pipe. 2. At the end of the hose pipe of 1/2” i want a female adaptor which can connect to my 16 mm Jain Irrigation pipe. 3. I want a male adaptor for my 16 mm Jain Irrigarion pipe. I am open to a new idea if you can suggest somethimg. I want the system to be manual without any electric device in between.
I think this will absolutely be easy to achieve, though I'll want to clear up some of our possible differences in terminology or units to make sure. 1. Is the home tap a standard hose bib / spigot? If so, those threads are most likely 3/4" male hose threads -- definitely worth double checking in case you have 1/2" pipe coming out of the hose to a 1/2" male adapter, but if it's a standard every day spigot it's likely it's male hose threads. If it is hose threads, this fitting here may do the trick (I say may because we'll want to make sure your tubing's inside diameter is a match): www.dripdepot.com/1193 2. 16mm is about 0.630" -- I found one of Jain's 16mm tubing listings and they state it is 16mm inside diameter and has a 1.10mm wall thickness -- this would make that tubing 0.630" x 0.710" -- that's a fairly common tubing size, but I do know Jain makes a lot of sizes so it would be best to confirm yours is 16mm inside diameter. If so, this 1/2" female pipe thread x tubing adapter would work: www.dripdepot.com/2117 -- just like the above, it's best to confirm that the make adapter you'll be using this fitting with is 1/2" male pipe thread. 3. Is this one to connect to the adapter in #2? If so, this one will do the trick: www.dripdepot.com/1471 If the adapters in #2 and #3 are meant to connect to one another, it could both be in in Loc style fittings by going with 3/4" female and 3/4" male in these two fittings: www.dripdepot.com/7906 -- This is 3/4" Female Pipe Threads www.dripdepot.com/1472 -- This one is 3/4" Male Pipe Threads The barbs on both of those adapters are compatible with tubing that has an inside diameter of up to 0.630". Happy to help on this! If you're unsure on any of the sizes of anything, you're welcome to send over photos and/or links to what you have and it's likely we'll be able to determine what is compatible to achieve your desired layout. I don't think pics can upload in RUclips comments, but they can be emailed to us from here: help.dripdepot.com/support/tickets/new -- that goes to our Contact Us link which creates an email, but you can also just send it to our address if you prefer. The timer portion will also be easy to achieve, though you'll likely want this at the actual spigot -- the reason is LDPE (Low Density Polyethylene) is not rated for constant pressure and will need to be relieved of pressure when the system is not in use -- placing the timer right at the spigot/head assembly before the system will solve that :)
Do you mean overall life span? If so, it largely depends on the wall thickness of the tape -- for example, the very thin walled stuff (6 Mil) is often used as a one and done line by many commercial farmers. They'll use it for a season, tear it out and ship it off to be recycled. The thicker walled stuff can last for years -- how long depends largely on the care given it. Primarily, landscape maintenance equipment (lawn mower and weed eater have damaged many lines!) and foot traffic. With reasonably good care, we've seen the 15 Mil stuff last 5-10 seasons. Even then, damaged tape is pretty easy to fix with a coupling, but at some point there simply ends up being too many couplings. Limiting UV exposure as much as possible can also greatly extend the life span into the deeper range of that 5-10 season window. Basically, unless you're using the very thin walled tape, with a little care you can expect a good lifespan from it :)
Victor, do you know what is clogging the emitters (mineral build-up, organic debris like algae)? Also, what emitter types are they, misters/foggers, or drippers? Misting nozzles, often used in greenhouses, have the smallest orifices irrigation -- they're prone to getting clogged by calcium/mineral build-up, probably more than any other emitter type. These are often unclogged by injecting solutions that lower pH enough to break up the build-up and flush it out of the end of the line. Some misting nozzles are easily removed and can be soaked. Likewise with algae or other soft organics, solutions can be ran through the lines to eliminate it so it can be flushed out of the end of the lines. Aside from that, regular flushing of the lines can help prevent any kind of build-up -- drip irrigation tubing and many emitters are designed to create turbulent water flow -- this turbulence breaks up debris so it can be flushed out of the end of the line. Without flushing, debris begins to build-up inside the lines eventually causing a clogged emitter. You can also check the mesh of the filter being used -- filter elements can go up to 200 mesh / 80 micron, which is very fine filtration. With that said, if you're at 150 to 155 mesh, I wouldn't expect the filtration to be at play, at 155+ everything except the very finest particulates will be captured and those that get through can be flushed.
Not directly to a sprinkler, but a drip system can be connected to what the sprinkler is connected to -- in a fairly easy process too. It basically boils down to unthreading the sprinkler, then threading on some drip components (filter, pressure regulator, adapter to connect your tubing or tape) and running your tape. That does mean that sprinkler is out of service unless the drip components are removed and the sprinkler threaded back on though.
Intense summer sun in the south can deform drip tape and main lines causing stress and blow outs as well. I always run my system on a 5 minute manual every afternoon and check for problems.
That's very good advice, thank you for the comment! You have it exactly right too, in hotter climes the thermal expansion/contraction of drip tape can displace it and, like you noted, pull the tape off of fittings over time.
Checking it for problems with a short cycle like you do is a good approach -- that has the double benefit of running some cool water through it. Burying it under mulch (or even soil in some cases) can also help, though that has the downside of concealing issues sometimes.
Great comment, thank you again!
I have recently planted 10 small fruit trees , is drip tape suitable for trees and also can it be placed under tree mulch ? Thank you
Yes to both counts! Drip is is often use with trees (particularly young trees) and is frequently buried under mulch. Make sure foot traffic is careful around the buried tape. As the trees mature they may benefit from a second run of tape on the other side as well :)
I just order an irrigation system from you. How height I will should put the water tank if I need to irrigate 18 line for 208 feets long?
Thank you for reaching out!
When it comes to barrel height, we find that the highest you can reasonably (and safely!) place it works the best. With that said, some emitters, like drip tape and coupling valves used as emitters, are more reliant on flow than pressure so you can try varying elevations and see where you get the best results. I see you emailed as well, we'll fire off an email with more information :)
Hi you are doing a great job. What is the cost of a role of your drip tape I need to make demands for it
Thank you for the kind words!
Drip tape can very by roll length, wall thickness, emitter spacing and brand, but as of this writing (4/19/2023), to give you a rough idea, we have 100' rolls for around $17.20 4100' rolls for as low as $259.00. That's for the thicker walled (15 Mil) drip tapes, thinner walled tapes will often be less per foot since they use less materials and can come on much longer coils (up to 10,000').
@@dripdepot coils of 10,000' with thinner walls will cost?. And what is the durability
Right now our 10,000' rolls go for a little as $285.00 and as high as $370.00 depending on brand, spacing, etc. In regards to durability, these coils have very very thins walls -- a Mil is a thousandth of an inch thick, so 6 Mil thickness is only six-thousandths of an inch thick. This makes it very easy to damage -- with that said, drip tape is also very easy to repair by using a coupling. 6 Mil tape tends to be used for just a season or two, whereas the thicker tapes (15 Mil) can last quite a few seasons (though minor repairs will be needed during that time).
I'm wondering why the Premium Drip Irrigation for Row Crops System which I already purchased has a 15 PSI flow regulartor if it's not the correct one. This video states we need a 10 PSI flow regulartor. I haven't set it up yet. Do I need to have it exchanged?
Hello LeiNani! Very good question -- drip tape typically runs at 8-15 PSI, depending on the wall thickness. In our row crop kits we use the thicker walled tape (15 Mil) so the 15 PSI regulator is a good choice for it. Drip tape used to be something used primarily by commercial farmers with very long rows. For transportation, costs of material and ease of installation, they often use very thin walled tape at 6 - 10 Mil thickness. At those wall thicknesses they'll usually regulate down to 8-10 PSI. For the most part, it's all about the wall thickness and the 15 Mil thick tape works great (and won't burst!) at 15 PSI :)
If you could recommend one of your videos that could be a “follow along” type for very new to drip irrigation. WHat would it be?
Very good question Gracie, I'm glad you asked so the information will be in the comments. There are two videos that I think, in combination, would work. The first is the "How to Design a Drip Irrigation System (Beginners Step-by-Step DIY Guide)" video -- it will lay the groundwork to show you how to design the system. The second is a full step-by-step walkthrough of installing drip irrigation in raised beds. It's a long video as we wanted to actually show everything. That one is titled "How to Install Drip Irrigation for Raised Beds (Complete DIY System Guide)."
I'll link both here (cannot shorten a URL in RUclips comments unfortunately).
Design: ruclips.net/video/FJF49lb23b8/видео.html
Step-By-Step Raised Bed Guide: ruclips.net/video/1w_e-DFXUsw/видео.html
Though both videos are tailored towards raised beds, they work well for other system types as well as they use mostly the same parts and emitter types. :)
@@dripdepot thank you so much! I have a small garden. But think my success has been hindered due to not watering as much as 8 should. I’m afraid of drowning plants. But may not have watered enough in past years. Also I’m in zone 3B. So very short growing season! Cheers
Zone 3b? Brr! I lived in South Dakota for awhile so got to experience those short growing seasons for awhile too. Never had better strawberries though.
It's funny you mention this, because we see overwatering a lot more than we see under watering -- if you're under watering, it's fortunately a very easy fix to increase the watering cycle just a little bit. I think I probably overwater too, I've been reducing my cycles a bit each year (and so far, my plants have been as healthy each year, so I might try to go lower again this year).
Excellent video, lot to learn
I have an entire kit from drop depot. My drip tape pops off my permaloks constantly, despite the fact that I have the 10 psi flow restricter just after the filter. I found this video looking for a fix or a reason why this continually happens. Just as described it’s a real problem until someone notices. It happens every watering to at least 2 sometimes 5 tapes
I can confirm the tape should not pop off the fittings! Even at 15 PSI (and even a bit higher on the 15 Mil thick stuff) it should stay on the fittings until removed for any reason. If you can, send us this information at our Contact Us so we can get this up and running as it should with you -- just in case, here's the link: help.dripdepot.com/support/tickets/new
Let us know which fittings (takeoff adapters or end caps) and potentially a photo of the installation -- we'll take a look and see if it's something we can spot at a glance or if something is up with the fittings themselves.
Hi I'm new drip irrigation. I have run 1/2" pex pipe to my raised beds. Now I think I may have a problem addapting pex to your tube to tape. is there someone who can help. I have watched several videos' but im still confused and unsure of how to proceed.
We don't currently have PEX fittings, so I'll be somewhat limited, but I can definitely assist and have assisted others with the information. So, it will depend on whether you plan to go from PEX to Tubing or PEX to tape. Most likely all you'll need is two adapters: one a PEX x Threads and the other Threads x Tubing (or Threads x Tape if going directly to tape).
Going directly to tubing or tape will depend on a couple factors -- do you already have pressure regulation installed somewhere so you're at the lower pressure drip irrigation prefers? Likewise with filtration. It's no problem either way really, as there's easy and inexpensive solutions no matter which route you need to go here, just want to make sure everything is accounted for :)
I want adaptor to connect the following.
1. My home tap of 1/2” with male adaptor attached to it. So i want 1 Female adaptor for this which can connect to my 1/2 hose pipe.
2. At the end of the hose pipe of 1/2” i want a female adaptor which can connect to my 16 mm Jain Irrigation pipe.
3. I want a male adaptor for my 16 mm Jain Irrigarion pipe.
I am open to a new idea if you can suggest somethimg. I want the system to be manual without any electric device in between.
I think this will absolutely be easy to achieve, though I'll want to clear up some of our possible differences in terminology or units to make sure.
1. Is the home tap a standard hose bib / spigot? If so, those threads are most likely 3/4" male hose threads -- definitely worth double checking in case you have 1/2" pipe coming out of the hose to a 1/2" male adapter, but if it's a standard every day spigot it's likely it's male hose threads. If it is hose threads, this fitting here may do the trick (I say may because we'll want to make sure your tubing's inside diameter is a match): www.dripdepot.com/1193
2. 16mm is about 0.630" -- I found one of Jain's 16mm tubing listings and they state it is 16mm inside diameter and has a 1.10mm wall thickness -- this would make that tubing 0.630" x 0.710" -- that's a fairly common tubing size, but I do know Jain makes a lot of sizes so it would be best to confirm yours is 16mm inside diameter. If so, this 1/2" female pipe thread x tubing adapter would work: www.dripdepot.com/2117 -- just like the above, it's best to confirm that the make adapter you'll be using this fitting with is 1/2" male pipe thread.
3. Is this one to connect to the adapter in #2? If so, this one will do the trick: www.dripdepot.com/1471
If the adapters in #2 and #3 are meant to connect to one another, it could both be in in Loc style fittings by going with 3/4" female and 3/4" male in these two fittings:
www.dripdepot.com/7906 -- This is 3/4" Female Pipe Threads
www.dripdepot.com/1472 -- This one is 3/4" Male Pipe Threads
The barbs on both of those adapters are compatible with tubing that has an inside diameter of up to 0.630".
Happy to help on this! If you're unsure on any of the sizes of anything, you're welcome to send over photos and/or links to what you have and it's likely we'll be able to determine what is compatible to achieve your desired layout. I don't think pics can upload in RUclips comments, but they can be emailed to us from here: help.dripdepot.com/support/tickets/new -- that goes to our Contact Us link which creates an email, but you can also just send it to our address if you prefer.
The timer portion will also be easy to achieve, though you'll likely want this at the actual spigot -- the reason is LDPE (Low Density Polyethylene) is not rated for constant pressure and will need to be relieved of pressure when the system is not in use -- placing the timer right at the spigot/head assembly before the system will solve that :)
how long can you run drip tape and it still work correctly?
Do you mean overall life span? If so, it largely depends on the wall thickness of the tape -- for example, the very thin walled stuff (6 Mil) is often used as a one and done line by many commercial farmers. They'll use it for a season, tear it out and ship it off to be recycled. The thicker walled stuff can last for years -- how long depends largely on the care given it. Primarily, landscape maintenance equipment (lawn mower and weed eater have damaged many lines!) and foot traffic. With reasonably good care, we've seen the 15 Mil stuff last 5-10 seasons. Even then, damaged tape is pretty easy to fix with a coupling, but at some point there simply ends up being too many couplings. Limiting UV exposure as much as possible can also greatly extend the life span into the deeper range of that 5-10 season window.
Basically, unless you're using the very thin walled tape, with a little care you can expect a good lifespan from it :)
I had a new system in my greenhouse with a filter and my lines still get clogged how do we fix this his issue
Victor, do you know what is clogging the emitters (mineral build-up, organic debris like algae)? Also, what emitter types are they, misters/foggers, or drippers?
Misting nozzles, often used in greenhouses, have the smallest orifices irrigation -- they're prone to getting clogged by calcium/mineral build-up, probably more than any other emitter type. These are often unclogged by injecting solutions that lower pH enough to break up the build-up and flush it out of the end of the line. Some misting nozzles are easily removed and can be soaked.
Likewise with algae or other soft organics, solutions can be ran through the lines to eliminate it so it can be flushed out of the end of the lines.
Aside from that, regular flushing of the lines can help prevent any kind of build-up -- drip irrigation tubing and many emitters are designed to create turbulent water flow -- this turbulence breaks up debris so it can be flushed out of the end of the line. Without flushing, debris begins to build-up inside the lines eventually causing a clogged emitter.
You can also check the mesh of the filter being used -- filter elements can go up to 200 mesh / 80 micron, which is very fine filtration. With that said, if you're at 150 to 155 mesh, I wouldn't expect the filtration to be at play, at 155+ everything except the very finest particulates will be captured and those that get through can be flushed.
O, you can’t hook it up to existing sprinkler.
Not directly to a sprinkler, but a drip system can be connected to what the sprinkler is connected to -- in a fairly easy process too. It basically boils down to unthreading the sprinkler, then threading on some drip components (filter, pressure regulator, adapter to connect your tubing or tape) and running your tape.
That does mean that sprinkler is out of service unless the drip components are removed and the sprinkler threaded back on though.