If you found this video helpful, please “Like” and share to help increase its reach 😊 For more drip irrigation videos, see my playlist here: ruclips.net/p/PL1gY7BoYBGIHHHsx0JPcYgD4xXzA96usL
I'm a little confused, as I understand it gravity gets weaker as you go up because it is more distant from the center of the earth. You can look it up :-( also the pressure increases based on the height of the column of the water. The difference you are seeing may be due to variables like the line resistance and distance to the point of drip.
You need to feed the header at the garden at both ends from the barrels to equalize the pressure along the header so all drippers will have the same pressure
You could connect the entire system in a loop if you wish. However, the flow rate is fine, so I'm not going to go through the extra headache. It would take a lot more parts, and that's just more things to trip over.
You just made me realize that my sloped backyard is actually an asset! I've been struggling with uneven watering trying to garden directly in the ground on a hillside. But now I realize that with containers, and harnessing gravity-fed irrigation, I can make my backyard work for me! I won't even need to raise the rain barrels because they'll already be much higher than the garden area below. You're the man MG!
You can do that, for sure! However, you'll still have to stir it to some degree so it distributes evenly in the barrel. In my case, the barrel was pretty much 100% full, so adding any more than a quart or two of liquid would have been problematic.
@@TheMillennialGardener You could solve that problem by using water from the rain barrel to fill the mixing bucket, then pour the mixture back into the rain barrel.
Great set up! Fyi Every ft of elevation will give you about 0.4 psi of head pressure. To get all the way up to 25 psi like your sprinklers, you would need to elevate it over 46ft!
🌻🐝☀️🌺👨🌾🌸You are an inspiration to me. Im growing most of my garden in containers. I can see you put a lot of work and love into growing! The best part of gardening to me is you get to see the new growth everyday it brings me so much joy! It’s the start of my 3 year gardening but there is still so much to learn and I appreciate your tips, tricks and advice! I hope we can learn more from each other as we grow!
I just moved to Leland from the northeast and I’m starting my first garden. Very excited to have found your videos. Seems I’m pretty late getting things started. Not used to the climate and season differences plus I’ve never been very successful. Hoping for better results this year!
I'm recently retired and new to gardening, and have found your channel to be a great source of solid, useful, reliable and practical information. I live on a rocky outcrop, so plant in containers and "raised beds" (8' X 3' X 15" deep wood boxes sitting on the rocky substrate). I'm setting up a rainwater collection and drip irrigation system inspired by your videos. Have you considered another video on irrigation techniques. I realize specifics depend on temperature, rain, soil, crop etc. but perhaps you could outline some general strategies. For things like tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers, is it better to irrigate frequently keeping the soil constantly moist, or to deep water periodically after letting the soil dry out? Is it better to concentrate water near the stem to promote deep rooting, or spread evenly throughout the bed/container to promote surface roots. As far as water soluble fertilizer, is it better to fertilize lightly on a continuous basis, or periodically fertilize more heavily? Would you change the NPK ratio as the plants develop from growing to flowering to fruiting stages? Do you fertilize leafy crops like lettuce and spinach? Any suggestions and advice would be much appreciated.
You need to trash those jersey shore tank tops lol. You're in the south now. Jokes aside, you have the best most informative garden videos online. Kudos and thanks!
@@TheMillennialGardener Originally from Philly, but moved to the Rocky Mtns. 35 years ago so you're lucky to even see me wearing pants in the garden during summer. (coarse, if you DO see me, you're trespassin'.) 😠!
@@dapperdingo I was born and raised 30 mins from Atlantic City, then moved to Philly for 13 years. I moved down here to wear flip flops in January. Even when it's too cold here for short sleeves, I still wear the flip flops.
@@TheMillennialGardener I met my real mom when I was 13, moved from Bucks County to 28th and Passyunk by the Gulf Oil refinery in S.Philly, where she lived, moved to 15th and McKean to live with my sister (near Broad and Snyder) a short time later, 6th and Tasker (nice neighborhood 🙄) after that, and then off to Germany in the army. I miss Habberset Scrapple, Italian hoagies dripping with oil, and an occasional trip to Pat's Steaks, but nothing else really. We are FREE!
What is the flow rating on your drippers and how long do you run them each watering? Your videos are great, I'm inspired to get rain barrels and expand my gardening efforts. Thank you.
Thanks for video. I do however wish I could find a set it and forget it rain catchment video that shows a large gravity rainwater drip system with IBC totes with automatic open/shut off valves be solar battery operated or 120volt. This system is fine for small garden but leave the valve open and forget it the system is empty and thus your done! I have large tanks and if I forget to shut off,the whole system drains out hundreds of gallons! (I’ve done that twice now!)
Yes, that is true. The weight of the water will provide more pressure, so the dripping is more intense when the barrel is full than when they are half empty.
Wow, great stuff! I wish I'd had a second barrel in place when we got the only measurable precipitation we've had in the last several month. Here in the Southwest - I'm in New Mexico - we are experiencing the worst drought in 1,200 years! The community where I live has placed watering restrictions, so now if we could just get some rain coming out of the sky, I could do this for my garden. We shall see if our Southwest monsoon kicks in this year. All I need is a paltry quarter inch of rain to fill up my barrels and IBC Tote.
Thank you, thank you, thank you! I have a 275 gal IBC tote. I want to use it as a rain barrel and I've been racking my brain, trying to figure out a drip system and was struggling with whether the head pressure would be enough. From what I'm seeing, it will be plenty!! I don't need to purchase the pump now! Woohoo! Plus, I can just use all of the cinder blocks I've got - I don't have to build a platform! This video is greatly appreciated!!
I'm glad it was helpful! For me, 3 cinder blocks was sufficient. The exit point from the rain barrel is 40 inches off the ground, so that should give you a little help with planning your height. However, keep in mind my yard slopes down, which helps things, too. If your yard doesn't slope down, or if it actually slopes UP, you'll need more cinder blocks to get the water source off the ground. I think you should shoot for about 4 feet of height from the bottom of your rain barrel to your drippers when all is said and done.
Do you need to paint the outside of that container? I was thinking of grabbing some, but all of the ones I find are white. Will that affect the water inside, like causing algae?
@@zhippidydoodah Good idea, I'd forgotten about that. It would be better if the container was opaque. I'm probably going to paint it green or blue (Rustoleum has a paint for plastic that works well). Those two colors don't absorb the heat from the sun as much as other colors. I live in Georgia and have a number of black garbage cans that I use to collect rain water. Several get a lot of sun and the water can get hot. Don't want that..
@@zhippidydoodah I get black material like heavy duty trash bags (they aren’t trash bags, but similar material) and then wrap the containers. It has worked great for over 2 years.
Maybe you could only consider to use metal barrels (you can get really cheap barrels used for storing orange juice concentrate), since plastic releases all kinds of chemicals into water which end up into your soil. Great channel btw, so many amazing videos.
Awesome work, and thanks for the info! How does the drip irrigation water the plants evenly if they are only dripping into a tiny spot in the soil? Does the water spread out within the soil?
this is something that ive done before.. and it works wonders.. your setup is amazing! what im trying to do next is to have a electronically controlled valve so that i dont have to manually turn it on and off.. previously i used timer valves made from china and they work amazingly well, but unfortunately it requires a strong water pressure fed through it in order for the water to flow out.. what i understand is it utilizes a solenoid valve and some pressure difference applications (idk much abt that).. so cant use that in a gravity fed system unless i put my reservoir tank wayy up to match the mains pressure we have here (which is the only way it worked for me).. i tried looking up for timer valves that uses a simple ball valve , but cant find any...
You can if you wish, but this barrel was extremely full, so adding more water at the time could have created an overflow issue. If you pre-dissolve the fertilizer, you'll still have to stir it into the barrel to incorporate, so keep that in mind. The Jack's stuff is *very* high quality, and it dissolves in seconds with a little stirring.
Great video, really enjoyed watching how you have set up your irrigation system, unless there is something I don’t know about jacks fertilizer as a brand, it will damage your soil and will hinder your progress with growing veg, best really to learn about soil science and how to meet plants needs, rather than try to stick plaster over the issues by using fertiliser like that
roofing shingles have herbicides, pesticides and fungicides. I planted mammoth sunflowers all over my property and they're all about 4 feet tall accept for the one planted next to where the gutter pours out, that one is 1 foot tall. just a heads up, if you don't have a metal roof you are collecting more than just rain water
Have you considered using ibc totes instead of the barrels? I converted all of my 55 g drums to the 275 gallon totes. I found during dry seasons, I just didn’t have enough water. I am more rural, so have more distance from house to beds, but the totes work great. I actually have 11 totes about half of them are the 330 gallon size. I water 150’ from the tote with a garden hose and reasonable flow. I am in the process of attaching an irritation system to regain my summer mornings from watering, ha! I tried the pencil size soaker hoses on the drip tubing and just wasn’t satisfied with the flow. So changing to drip emitters. Maybe your area gets more rain and you don’t run out often. We can go 2 months with no rain and temps near 100, so water is crucial to keep a garden alive. Having rain in the totes can get me through most of the dry season if they are adequately filled at the beginning of the season. Found your video very educational. Was interested in how you zoned. I did set up PVC mainline in one garden, but the shutoffs cracked in the winter even though they were open and drained. Your video is making me rethink the 2” trunk line to just go with the 1/2” drip. Seems to get good flow for a distance, which was my concern around a 20’ long asparagus bed. I needed the emitters to go around a cluster of plants.
I myself brew Ceremonial "waters of life" kombucha. The REAL thing...not the store crap. My stuff is a vinegar fuzzy tonic of 5+ teas and MAN....great for the body. Adds years of life. Anyhow...thank you for the great video.
Wonderful presentation, warm thanks. But, please tell me the actual heights (above ground-level) of the two (master-&-slave) bricks-platforms, and the diameters of your numerous stages of pipes, and the LPH (liters per hour) specifications of the final dripper-emitter, and the total rectangular length & breadth of your garden (including the three zones)
Love the drip emitters and seeing them in action with the rain barrels. The only thing I am concerned about is using runoff from my roof. I don't think there is a good way to catch an abundance of water without doing so though.
very simple pvc arrangement that diverts the initial run of dirty/dusty water coming from the roof and then collects the (mostly) clean water flowing after. it can be further screened or purified from there, but usually unnecessary for irrigation.
Hi, great and thorough video! Could you share the name of those cute tiny tomato plants? I grow almost 100% from seeds and so I'd appreciate the name. That is unusual and nice-looking the way those little tomatoes grown along the stem Tks :)
After the snow, winter, etc at the spring, how do you clean the inside of the barrel and with what product? It will be my first spring season with rain barrel. I just saw that you have a cover ut my barrels don’t so that’s why I shan’t to empty them and clean them. Is javel water + water OK!
You can premix the fertilizer if you wish, but the rain barrels were completely full, and you don't want them to overflow or you'll lose all that fertilizer. Also, even if you premix, you'll still have to stir and mix everything together for even distribution. The crystals are designed to break down quickly, so it is less work to just mix it right in the barrel and not worry about them spilling.
I got 4 huge ibc water totes. But opposite to your landscape, my house is lower than my garden. My yard is a uphill especially to the far end. So I have to use a pump. I am very curious how you control the time and frequency of the watering by gravity.
A few questions please: 1 - Could this system work if I have two 4x8 20" high raised beds a couple of feet from the rain barrel? Is one barrel enough for these beds and surrounding plants? Would the water be able to go up and into the beds? AND, how high should I place the barrel or barrels. thanks, in advance - love your videos.
Great video!! Thank you. How long do you let the drips going for each day? In other words, how long do you keep the water flowing into the entire garden for?
When I water using the rain barrel, I run it until it is empty. When I use the faucet from the house line, I usually run it about an hour to get a deep watering. After a deep watering, you can usually go a few days without running it again.
@@TheMillennialGardener And thank YOU for the well made and very informative videos, sir. I just started a venture into fig tree growing from cuttings and look to your videos (top of my list) for great info on that and any other cool ideas you have. Our gardening techniques have little in common sadly, as it is a different type of art form all together with growing a garden at 8000+ feet of elevation in the cold, windy, unpredictable and usually quite arid climate of the Colorado Rockies, (12 inches of heavy, wet snow just over this weekend though, with more to come tonight apparently), so I have to rely a lot on container gardening. Carrying them in and out of buildings for protective cover, things like that. I'm looking forward to MY first ripe tomato in late July or early August, if I am lucky, then the plants have to come into the house (sun room) for the first freeze and harvesting of the tomatoes through the fall and into December. Same with the zucchini and cukes! The fig trees do well with container life I understand so that's something that may turn out to be a success for me in the long run with just two or three plants, maybe four! Thanks again!
@@dapperdingo if I had to guess based on your description, you're either in Zone 4b or 5a? That is going to be very interesting to grow figs there. I'm very interested to hear how this turns out. I think a greenhouse or sunroom will be mandatory, because you'll likely have to both give them a head start in the spring to wake them up early and finish them off in the late summer/fall, because figs need temps of 80+ to really get good sugar development, in my experience. Once temps start dipping into the 70's, the sugar content isn't as good anymore.
@@TheMillennialGardener These are Chicago Hardy cuttings.They are really off to a slow start for sure, as compared to all of the fig plant growing channels I have watched , (and I have watched a lot of 'em), but with all that you have said above, I do realize that they may be just house plants for most of the year in my sun room with very little chance of fruiting unfortunately. - Unless I move to a climate like you have! - I visited my nephew in Alabama, (he's attending U.S Army chopper pilot school there), He moved there from Indiana with his fig trees and I got the cuttings from his plants that are now doing well in Alabama, took them home on the plane with me. Two cuttings have budded out. One of them recently got sunstroke when I put them outside of the sun room and the leaf shriveled up and died, the other put out a couple of bigger leaves, so now I keep them in the sun room with less intense sun light. Still, they are SO slow to advancement. I really am tempted to move to an Alabama type environment though, since gardening and plants are my biggest interest. But that would be a lot of work for me now being 60 years old. I have grown and eaten two pineapples in my sun room over the past few years though. Both came from the same pineapple plant, two years apart. The plant was started from a supermarket pineapple top about 10 years ago, so you can see, I do have the patience! I will keep you informed with my figgers! Wish I could post pics, but nothing real exciting to see yet. Thanks!
I'm assuming you wouldn't want to fertilize with every watering, so wouldnt you want to have a 3rd barrel... 1 for fertilizer treatments, 1 for irrigation, and one as a storage/feeder for the other two?
What about capacity of water for the garden of your size? Can it last you all season without the need for city water? Would you go with more water storage in hindsight?
Very well made videos, thanks for the info! Question: when the water level in the barrels gets low, is there still enough pressure to operate all the emitters? Also, will this run drip line or just the emitters? Thank you
No. The fertilizer is soluble, so it dissolves 100% in water. This is one of the reasons why I only recommend using the soluble crystal-type fertilizers when fertilizing through drip irrigation like this. It passes through the system without problems.
fig trees in pots..hmm....Just asking what was the name of those large Roma type tomatoes i see Also...how could i increase my pressure of a 2000gal tank without using a tank stand but just on the ground..about the same distance from the corner of your yard...
We have too much rainfall each year. In 2018, we had over 100 inches of rain. 2019 was a little more "normal" with about 50 inches. 2020 we had over 90 inches, and last year we had over 60 inches. It's very rainy here in the summer. It only takes about 0.25 inches of rain to fill one of these rain barrels, because my gutter system is so efficient, so you can imagine how many hundreds of times a year I can fill them up!
@@TheMillennialGardener Yeah, thanks I thought as much. I live in the arid outback Australia and our average rainfall is around 14 inches per annum and droughts for years on end. But we are fortunate to have subterranean water from the Great Artesian Basin about 23 klm down and under its own pressure. Only drawback is the buildup of corrosive substances (varying levels of high ph and sodium) even though we can drink it, it does corrupt the soil to a degree over years but makes gardening possible.
Yo I have a seroius question... after I installed drip irrigation I had a bunch of birds literally dig up my plants. I never knew birds would peck so aggressively at the gorund. I imagine they are looking for worms and they peck everywhere that is wet. Now it's very hard for me to turn on my system without fear of having to stand guard. I think I will be burying all the lines including the drippers soon in a very large/loose mulch and hopefully if they do not see it I will be ok. Only other option I have is grab tomato cages and cover in netting. Not sure if there's an easier option.
So how do you get the water from the rain barrel to the garden? Obviously with a hose, but I am assuming the hose is somewhat permanent, at least during the growing season. How doesn’t it get mowed when it runs across the lawn?
although its small there is nitrogen and other nutrients in rain water to begin with from what i understand but idk how much you consider that when adding chemical fertilizer to rain water
There is some nitrogen in rainwater, particularly after thunderstorms, because lightning actually splits N2 gas in the atmosphere into free N atoms, which then bond to oxygen atoms in the atmosphere and form nitrates. While N2 gas is not bioavailable to plants, nitrates are, so the nitrates that rain down do provide some amount of fertilizer. However, it's trivial for heavy feeders like tomatoes, peppers, potatoes and other popular garden vegetables. I wouldn't take them into account.
Question…I noticed that you have only one drip line per plant. I often wondered if that is good enough or is it better to have one on each side. It seems by having it on only side that the other roots won’t get enough water???
The plants all have large, wiry root systems. They will search out the water. There is no need to spend the money on twice as many drippers. As long as your dripper is within a few inches, the soil will soak up the drip and the network of roots will find the moisture pocket.
New to gardening- I have a garden bed perhaps 20m long. Will water drain from one end (tank) to the other if there are holes drilled every now and again in the plastic pipe (how to know if there be enough pressure?). If water just goes into the holes closest to the tank and doesn't reach the other end, doesn't meet my purpose. Also do you actually need added 'drip tubing' rather than just drill holes?
Do you feel like this could work on a slope? I have read I need pressure compensating dripper heads to make something on a slope work? which then requires quite a bit more pressure than is realistically possible with raising my 1500L barrels to height. Any thoughts my friend? Thank you for the video.
You stirring the fertilizer in made me thing of witches over a cauldron 😂 Thanks for the how toos this is AWESOME and I am so doing this we get loads of rain in WV
Why wouldn't you feed the second barrel from the bottom? Seems water would collect there when you keep drawing from the top of the first barrel. Edit: oh you do have it. I missed the lower hose. So now I wonder what the point of the top hos is? Overflow? But if the top overflows the bottom is already full. So why?
Does the split main shut off assembly work in a similar fashion to a Venturi fertilizer injection System? I.e. does the water in the rain barrel get drawn into the system by gravity AND the pressure of the main line? I would like to use your system design to deliver fertilizer to the garden and am wondering if it would be an effective? Great videos by the way!🌱🙏🏼
If you found this video helpful, please “Like” and share to help increase its reach 😊 For more drip irrigation videos, see my playlist here: ruclips.net/p/PL1gY7BoYBGIHHHsx0JPcYgD4xXzA96usL
Do you know if this type of system would also work with soaker hoses and drip tape?
I'm a little confused, as I understand it gravity gets weaker as you go up because it is more distant from the center of the earth. You can look it up :-( also the pressure increases based on the height of the column of the water.
The difference you are seeing may be due to variables like the line resistance and distance to the point of drip.
You need to feed the header at the garden at both ends from the barrels to equalize the pressure along the header so all drippers will have the same pressure
You could connect the entire system in a loop if you wish. However, the flow rate is fine, so I'm not going to go through the extra headache. It would take a lot more parts, and that's just more things to trip over.
You just made me realize that my sloped backyard is actually an asset! I've been struggling with uneven watering trying to garden directly in the ground on a hillside. But now I realize that with containers, and harnessing gravity-fed irrigation, I can make my backyard work for me! I won't even need to raise the rain barrels because they'll already be much higher than the garden area below. You're the man MG!
It'll be easier to dissolve the fertilizer in a bucket then pour it in the barrel. Congratulations on your irrigation system success!
You can do that, for sure! However, you'll still have to stir it to some degree so it distributes evenly in the barrel. In my case, the barrel was pretty much 100% full, so adding any more than a quart or two of liquid would have been problematic.
@@TheMillennialGardener You could solve that problem by using water from the rain barrel to fill the mixing bucket, then pour the mixture back into the rain barrel.
Man do I appreciate my RUclips Gardner's !!! Thanks buddy!!
Great set up!
Fyi Every ft of elevation will give you about 0.4 psi of head pressure. To get all the way up to 25 psi like your sprinklers, you would need to elevate it over 46ft!
🌻🐝☀️🌺👨🌾🌸You are an inspiration to me. Im growing most of my garden in containers. I can see you put a lot of work and love into growing! The best part of gardening to me is you get to see the new growth everyday it brings me so much joy! It’s the start of my 3 year gardening but there is still so much to learn and I appreciate your tips, tricks and advice! I hope we can learn more from each other as we grow!
I'm just getting started gardening, and so appreciative of all the information you pack in your videos. Thank you ❤️
I’m so happy to hear the videos are helpful! Congratulations on beginning! Gardening is one of the most rewarding and therapeutic things you can do.
Your methode of gardening really inspired me to do the same but with tropical climate ... 👍
Eco friendly gardening thumbs up thank you for sharing this brilliant ideas in gardening safe always God bless us all
You're welcome! Thank you for watching!
I just moved to Leland from the northeast and I’m starting my first garden. Very excited to have found your videos. Seems I’m pretty late getting things started. Not used to the climate and season differences plus I’ve never been very successful. Hoping for better results this year!
I'm recently retired and new to gardening, and have found your channel to be a great source of solid, useful, reliable and practical information. I live on a rocky outcrop, so plant in containers and "raised beds" (8' X 3' X 15" deep wood boxes sitting on the rocky substrate). I'm setting up a rainwater collection and drip irrigation system inspired by your videos. Have you considered another video on irrigation techniques. I realize specifics depend on temperature, rain, soil, crop etc. but perhaps you could outline some general strategies. For things like tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers, is it better to irrigate frequently keeping the soil constantly moist, or to deep water periodically after letting the soil dry out? Is it better to concentrate water near the stem to promote deep rooting, or spread evenly throughout the bed/container to promote surface roots. As far as water soluble fertilizer, is it better to fertilize lightly on a continuous basis, or periodically fertilize more heavily? Would you change the NPK ratio as the plants develop from growing to flowering to fruiting stages? Do you fertilize leafy crops like lettuce and spinach? Any suggestions and advice would be much appreciated.
Thank you for the advice .Just retired and really getting into the dirt. Been watching you a lot .you have been a great help thanks again
Best irrigation video I’ve seen! Beautiful garden! Thanks so much
WOW! I've been looking for a solution, this looks like IT! Time to watch your other video about how to set up this system! Solid video!!
You need to trash those jersey shore tank tops lol. You're in the south now. Jokes aside, you have the best most informative garden videos online. Kudos and thanks!
Sorry, gotta be true to myself! Nobody gardens down here! The tomato genes run deep in NJ 😂
@@TheMillennialGardener Originally from Philly, but moved to the Rocky Mtns. 35 years ago so you're lucky to even see me wearing pants in the garden during summer. (coarse, if you DO see me, you're trespassin'.) 😠!
@@TheMillennialGardener NEVER trash those Jersey Shore tank tops!!
@@dapperdingo I was born and raised 30 mins from Atlantic City, then moved to Philly for 13 years. I moved down here to wear flip flops in January. Even when it's too cold here for short sleeves, I still wear the flip flops.
@@TheMillennialGardener I met my real mom when I was 13, moved from Bucks County to 28th and Passyunk by the Gulf Oil refinery in S.Philly, where she lived, moved to 15th and McKean to live with my sister (near Broad and Snyder) a short time later, 6th and Tasker (nice neighborhood 🙄) after that, and then off to Germany in the army. I miss Habberset Scrapple, Italian hoagies dripping with oil, and an occasional trip to Pat's Steaks, but nothing else really. We are FREE!
Great set up. Love it! I hope to set up something similar this winter. Right now, it’s too darn HOT OUT! Phew! Your gardens are beautiful.
Wow! I love this channel! This guy explains things very well. I'll be watching all of his videos.
Thank you! I appreciate that! I'm happy to hear you enjoy the videos.
What is the flow rating on your drippers and how long do you run them each watering?
Your videos are great, I'm inspired to get rain barrels and expand my gardening efforts. Thank you.
Ease up there muscles! Seriously though, that's a great idea on the garden by my workshop. I'll use the rain gutter as a source. Thanks dude!
Thanks for video. I do however wish I could find a set it and forget it rain catchment video that shows a large gravity rainwater drip system with IBC totes with automatic open/shut off valves be solar battery operated or 120volt. This system is fine for small garden but leave the valve open and forget it the system is empty and thus your done! I have large tanks and if I forget to shut off,the whole system drains out hundreds of gallons! (I’ve done that twice now!)
Put a mechanical timer on it. Dial to 1 hour or 2 and walk away.
They are cheap.
I believe as the barrel empties, the head pressure will drop.
Yes, that is true. The weight of the water will provide more pressure, so the dripping is more intense when the barrel is full than when they are half empty.
4:56 that's still pretty good flow to the last dripper. Nice set up
Thank you! It's unbelievable how much time drip irrigation saves.
Wow, great stuff! I wish I'd had a second barrel in place when we got the only measurable precipitation we've had in the last several month. Here in the Southwest - I'm in New Mexico - we are experiencing the worst drought in 1,200 years! The community where I live has placed watering restrictions, so now if we could just get some rain coming out of the sky, I could do this for my garden. We shall see if our Southwest monsoon kicks in this year. All I need is a paltry quarter inch of rain to fill up my barrels and IBC Tote.
Thank you, thank you, thank you! I have a 275 gal IBC tote. I want to use it as a rain barrel and I've been racking my brain, trying to figure out a drip system and was struggling with whether the head pressure would be enough. From what I'm seeing, it will be plenty!! I don't need to purchase the pump now! Woohoo! Plus, I can just use all of the cinder blocks I've got - I don't have to build a platform! This video is greatly appreciated!!
I'm glad it was helpful! For me, 3 cinder blocks was sufficient. The exit point from the rain barrel is 40 inches off the ground, so that should give you a little help with planning your height. However, keep in mind my yard slopes down, which helps things, too. If your yard doesn't slope down, or if it actually slopes UP, you'll need more cinder blocks to get the water source off the ground. I think you should shoot for about 4 feet of height from the bottom of your rain barrel to your drippers when all is said and done.
Do you need to paint the outside of that container? I was thinking of grabbing some, but all of the ones I find are white. Will that affect the water inside, like causing algae?
@@zhippidydoodah Good idea, I'd forgotten about that. It would be better if the container was opaque. I'm probably going to paint it green or blue (Rustoleum has a paint for plastic that works well). Those two colors don't absorb the heat from the sun as much as other colors. I live in Georgia and have a number of black garbage cans that I use to collect rain water. Several get a lot of sun and the water can get hot. Don't want that..
@@zhippidydoodah I get black material like heavy duty trash bags (they aren’t trash bags, but similar material) and then wrap the containers. It has worked great for over 2 years.
Brother your on another level. Excellent setup.
Thanks! I appreciate that! Glad the video was helpful.
amazing setup, can't wait to try myself
Awesome! Congratulations on a fabulous system!
Thank you!
Maybe you could only consider to use metal barrels (you can get really cheap barrels used for storing orange juice concentrate), since plastic releases all kinds of chemicals into water which end up into your soil. Great channel btw, so many amazing videos.
What about the lines and drip emitters? Ha,we are all gonna die of something! There is micro plastics everywhere including chemtrails in the sky!
Awesome work, and thanks for the info! How does the drip irrigation water the plants evenly if they are only dripping into a tiny spot in the soil? Does the water spread out within the soil?
This is so informative, and interesting, thanks!
You're welcome! Glad you enjoyed it!
this is something that ive done before.. and it works wonders.. your setup is amazing! what im trying to do next is to have a electronically controlled valve so that i dont have to manually turn it on and off.. previously i used timer valves made from china and they work amazingly well, but unfortunately it requires a strong water pressure fed through it in order for the water to flow out.. what i understand is it utilizes a solenoid valve and some pressure difference applications (idk much abt that).. so cant use that in a gravity fed system unless i put my reservoir tank wayy up to match the mains pressure we have here (which is the only way it worked for me).. i tried looking up for timer valves that uses a simple ball valve , but cant find any...
You should dissolve the fertilizer in water before putting it in the barrel to ensure it’s all dissolved or you may get crystals in the system
You can if you wish, but this barrel was extremely full, so adding more water at the time could have created an overflow issue. If you pre-dissolve the fertilizer, you'll still have to stir it into the barrel to incorporate, so keep that in mind. The Jack's stuff is *very* high quality, and it dissolves in seconds with a little stirring.
have you looked at how the oils from asphaltenes on your roof would be absorbed by plants?
Very informative, I got a better idea now how I’m going to set up my garden.
Glad it was helpful! Thanks for watching!
You are a God send, thank you!
I'm glad the video can be helpful! Thanks for watching!
Mixing the fertilizer, Bubble bubble toil and trouble.
Thanks, very useful video. Greetings from Canary Islands, Spain
Glad it was helpful! Thanks so much for watching.
Great video, really enjoyed watching how you have set up your irrigation system, unless there is something I don’t know about jacks fertilizer as a brand, it will damage your soil and will hinder your progress with growing veg, best really to learn about soil science and how to meet plants needs, rather than try to stick plaster over the issues by using fertiliser like that
You could dissolve fertilisers in small bucket then add tone barrel….easier to mix.
See this video here: ruclips.net/video/NmAHq447XkY/видео.html
roofing shingles have herbicides, pesticides and fungicides. I planted mammoth sunflowers all over my property and they're all about 4 feet tall accept for the one planted next to where the gutter pours out, that one is 1 foot tall. just a heads up, if you don't have a metal roof you are collecting more than just rain water
Have you considered using ibc totes instead of the barrels? I converted all of my 55 g drums to the 275 gallon totes. I found during dry seasons, I just didn’t have enough water. I am more rural, so have more distance from house to beds, but the totes work great. I actually have 11 totes about half of them are the 330 gallon size. I water 150’ from the tote with a garden hose and reasonable flow. I am in the process of attaching an irritation system to regain my summer mornings from watering, ha! I tried the pencil size soaker hoses on the drip tubing and just wasn’t satisfied with the flow. So changing to drip emitters. Maybe your area gets more rain and you don’t run out often. We can go 2 months with no rain and temps near 100, so water is crucial to keep a garden alive. Having rain in the totes can get me through most of the dry season if they are adequately filled at the beginning of the season. Found your video very educational. Was interested in how you zoned. I did set up PVC mainline in one garden, but the shutoffs cracked in the winter even though they were open and drained. Your video is making me rethink the 2” trunk line to just go with the 1/2” drip. Seems to get good flow for a distance, which was my concern around a 20’ long asparagus bed. I needed the emitters to go around a cluster of plants.
Wow. As an Aspie? Love mechanisms of all sorts. High IQ stuff here as .....nature copies art copies nature copies art copies nature........
...works like a mini Roman aqueduct! :D
Brilliant! Capitol! It completes itself in so many ways. Physics art. o_O
I like that "low flow" line at the base of the largest tank. Empties it all evenly. Ha ha ha...cool.
I myself brew Ceremonial "waters of life" kombucha. The REAL thing...not the store crap. My stuff is a vinegar fuzzy tonic of 5+ teas and MAN....great for the body. Adds years of life. Anyhow...thank you for the great video.
Wonderful presentation, warm thanks. But, please tell me the actual heights (above ground-level) of the two (master-&-slave) bricks-platforms, and the diameters of your numerous stages of pipes, and the LPH (liters per hour) specifications of the final dripper-emitter, and the total rectangular length & breadth of your garden (including the three zones)
Great video. Answered all my past questions. Thanks!
Thank you! Glad to hear it was helpful!
@@TheMillennialGardener IBC tanks are what they are called.
Great informative video. Very inspirational.
Love the drip emitters and seeing them in action with the rain barrels. The only thing I am concerned about is using runoff from my roof. I don't think there is a good way to catch an abundance of water without doing so though.
Would love a reply to this too.
very simple pvc arrangement that diverts the initial run of dirty/dusty water coming from the roof and then collects the (mostly) clean water flowing after. it can be further screened or purified from there, but usually unnecessary for irrigation.
Great video! For how much time do you tend to open the tap from your barrel and why?
Thank you for this.
Hi, great and thorough video! Could you share the name of those cute tiny tomato plants? I grow almost 100% from seeds and so I'd appreciate the name. That is unusual and nice-looking the way those little tomatoes grown along the stem Tks :)
After the snow, winter, etc at the spring, how do you clean the inside of the barrel and with what product? It will be my first spring season with rain barrel. I just saw that you have a cover ut my barrels don’t so that’s why I shan’t to empty them and clean them. Is javel water + water OK!
What brand emitter being used in this video? I need a set that drips slowly.
Great informative video,take a bucket of rain water dissolve crystals visually then pour in tank? Just a thought
You can premix the fertilizer if you wish, but the rain barrels were completely full, and you don't want them to overflow or you'll lose all that fertilizer. Also, even if you premix, you'll still have to stir and mix everything together for even distribution. The crystals are designed to break down quickly, so it is less work to just mix it right in the barrel and not worry about them spilling.
Great video man!
Thanks for watching!
@13.00 satisfaction overload cheers
Thanks for watching!
Is there a hose from the barrels running to the garden?
I got 4 huge ibc water totes. But opposite to your landscape, my house is lower than my garden. My yard is a uphill especially to the far end. So I have to use a pump. I am very curious how you control the time and frequency of the watering by gravity.
Let me put like first. And then one question" Only 4~5 feet high, are you sure the pressure is enough for emitters ? Thanks
A few questions please:
1 - Could this system work if I have two 4x8 20" high raised beds a couple of feet from the rain barrel? Is one barrel enough for these beds and surrounding plants? Would the water be able to go up and into the beds? AND, how high should I place the barrel or barrels. thanks, in advance - love your videos.
Very cool system!
Good vid! Thanks. Nice garden.
so how long would the barrels last if you let it drip constantly? and do you know about how many emitters you have out?
Great video!! Thank you. How long do you let the drips going for each day? In other words, how long do you keep the water flowing into the entire garden for?
When I water using the rain barrel, I run it until it is empty. When I use the faucet from the house line, I usually run it about an hour to get a deep watering. After a deep watering, you can usually go a few days without running it again.
@@TheMillennialGardener thank you for the information:)
What do you do to keep Algie from growing inside your rain barrels?
The barrels have lids on them, so no light gets in. In total absence of light, nothing grows.
If I recall, it appears your shingles are asphalt. Do you use that water on your vegetables?
How long you run your system to give good for your plant?
What?!? Another North Carolinian? Subbed!
Very nice set up!
Thank you!
@@TheMillennialGardener And thank YOU for the well made and very informative videos, sir. I just started a venture into fig tree growing from cuttings and look to your videos (top of my list) for great info on that and any other cool ideas you have. Our gardening techniques have little in common sadly, as it is a different type of art form all together with growing a garden at 8000+ feet of elevation in the cold, windy, unpredictable and usually quite arid climate of the Colorado Rockies, (12 inches of heavy, wet snow just over this weekend though, with more to come tonight apparently), so I have to rely a lot on container gardening. Carrying them in and out of buildings for protective cover, things like that. I'm looking forward to MY first ripe tomato in late July or early August, if I am lucky, then the plants have to come into the house (sun room) for the first freeze and harvesting of the tomatoes through the fall and into December. Same with the zucchini and cukes! The fig trees do well with container life I understand so that's something that may turn out to be a success for me in the long run with just two or three plants, maybe four! Thanks again!
@@dapperdingo if I had to guess based on your description, you're either in Zone 4b or 5a? That is going to be very interesting to grow figs there. I'm very interested to hear how this turns out. I think a greenhouse or sunroom will be mandatory, because you'll likely have to both give them a head start in the spring to wake them up early and finish them off in the late summer/fall, because figs need temps of 80+ to really get good sugar development, in my experience. Once temps start dipping into the 70's, the sugar content isn't as good anymore.
@@TheMillennialGardener These are Chicago Hardy cuttings.They are really off to a slow start for sure, as compared to all of the fig plant growing channels I have watched , (and I have watched a lot of 'em), but with all that you have said above, I do realize that they may be just house plants for most of the year in my sun room with very little chance of fruiting unfortunately. - Unless I move to a climate like you have! - I visited my nephew in Alabama, (he's attending U.S Army chopper pilot school there), He moved there from Indiana with his fig trees and I got the cuttings from his plants that are now doing well in Alabama, took them home on the plane with me. Two cuttings have budded out. One of them recently got sunstroke when I put them outside of the sun room and the leaf shriveled up and died, the other put out a couple of bigger leaves, so now I keep them in the sun room with less intense sun light. Still, they are SO slow to advancement. I really am tempted to move to an Alabama type environment though, since gardening and plants are my biggest interest. But that would be a lot of work for me now being 60 years old. I have grown and eaten two pineapples in my sun room over the past few years though. Both came from the same pineapple plant, two years apart. The plant was started from a supermarket pineapple top about 10 years ago, so you can see, I do have the patience! I will keep you informed with my figgers! Wish I could post pics, but nothing real exciting to see yet. Thanks!
So can this be done even with normal architecture shingles
I’m want to do this but I have a shingle roof. It’s have some creative thinking to do.
So do I. It's not an issue.
Great information!! 😊👍 Thank you!
You’re welcome! Thanks for watching as always! ❤️
I really love this channel..
Thank you! I really appreciate that! Glad you enjoy the videos.
I'm assuming you wouldn't want to fertilize with every watering, so wouldnt you want to have a 3rd barrel... 1 for fertilizer treatments, 1 for irrigation, and one as a storage/feeder for the other two?
Wow smart guy🙌👍
Thanks for watching!
Great dog! Serious question: Is this system cost effective? Seems like a large amount of $ and time compared to just getting water from the tap
Maybe pre mix the crystals prior to dumping into the barrel?
I usually pre-dilute them in a bowl first, then pour it into my barrel.
What about capacity of water for the garden of your size?
Can it last you all season without the need for city water?
Would you go with more water storage in hindsight?
Very well made videos, thanks for the info! Question: when the water level in the barrels gets low, is there still enough pressure to operate all the emitters? Also, will this run drip line or just the emitters?
Thank you
How long does it take for your barrels to empty?
Couldn't you equalize the pressure from the 1st to last emitter by just looping your main feed?
Does the filter you have on the barrel spigot filter out the fertilizer at all?
No. The fertilizer is soluble, so it dissolves 100% in water. This is one of the reasons why I only recommend using the soluble crystal-type fertilizers when fertilizing through drip irrigation like this. It passes through the system without problems.
fig trees in pots..hmm....Just asking what was the name of those large Roma type tomatoes i see Also...how could i increase my pressure of a 2000gal tank without using a tank stand but just on the ground..about the same distance from the corner of your yard...
Wow one sharp man thats for sure.
Does the water drip all the time, or can it be automated to turn on/off at certain times?
Be interesting to know what the water consumption is for the two tanks, do you have a very high annual rainfall?
We have too much rainfall each year. In 2018, we had over 100 inches of rain. 2019 was a little more "normal" with about 50 inches. 2020 we had over 90 inches, and last year we had over 60 inches. It's very rainy here in the summer. It only takes about 0.25 inches of rain to fill one of these rain barrels, because my gutter system is so efficient, so you can imagine how many hundreds of times a year I can fill them up!
@@TheMillennialGardener Yeah, thanks I thought as much. I live in the arid outback Australia and our average rainfall is around 14 inches per annum and droughts for years on end. But we are fortunate to have subterranean water from the Great Artesian Basin about 23 klm down and under its own pressure. Only drawback is the buildup of corrosive substances (varying levels of high ph and sodium) even though we can drink it, it does corrupt the soil to a degree over years but makes gardening possible.
I wonder in what time one barrel will be completely empty if left with open valve.
Can I put a garden hose and will it give the pressure I need
Yo I have a seroius question... after I installed drip irrigation I had a bunch of birds literally dig up my plants. I never knew birds would peck so aggressively at the gorund. I imagine they are looking for worms and they peck everywhere that is wet. Now it's very hard for me to turn on my system without fear of having to stand guard. I think I will be burying all the lines including the drippers soon in a very large/loose mulch and hopefully if they do not see it I will be ok.
Only other option I have is grab tomato cages and cover in netting. Not sure if there's an easier option.
So how do you get the water from the rain barrel to the garden? Obviously with a hose, but I am assuming the hose is somewhat permanent, at least during the growing season. How doesn’t it get mowed when it runs across the lawn?
He buried the line from the barrels to the garden.
although its small there is nitrogen and other nutrients in rain water to begin with from what i understand but idk how much you consider that when adding chemical fertilizer to rain water
There is some nitrogen in rainwater, particularly after thunderstorms, because lightning actually splits N2 gas in the atmosphere into free N atoms, which then bond to oxygen atoms in the atmosphere and form nitrates. While N2 gas is not bioavailable to plants, nitrates are, so the nitrates that rain down do provide some amount of fertilizer. However, it's trivial for heavy feeders like tomatoes, peppers, potatoes and other popular garden vegetables. I wouldn't take them into account.
Amazing.. 🌷🌷👌👌
Thank you!
Are you watering most or all at one time, or do you open and close valves to water certain sections at a time?
Question…I noticed that you have only one drip line per plant. I often wondered if that is good enough or is it better to have one on each side. It seems by having it on only side that the other roots won’t get enough water???
The plants all have large, wiry root systems. They will search out the water. There is no need to spend the money on twice as many drippers. As long as your dripper is within a few inches, the soil will soak up the drip and the network of roots will find the moisture pocket.
@@TheMillennialGardener thanks
New to gardening- I have a garden bed perhaps 20m long. Will water drain from one end (tank) to the other if there are holes drilled every now and again in the plastic pipe (how to know if there be enough pressure?). If water just goes into the holes closest to the tank and doesn't reach the other end, doesn't meet my purpose. Also do you actually need added 'drip tubing' rather than just drill holes?
Do you feel like this could work on a slope? I have read I need pressure compensating dripper heads to make something on a slope work? which then requires quite a bit more pressure than is realistically possible with raising my 1500L barrels to height. Any thoughts my friend? Thank you for the video.
You stirring the fertilizer in made me thing of witches over a cauldron 😂
Thanks for the how toos this is AWESOME and I am so doing this we get loads of rain in WV
Anyone know where to find a diverter for a 4”x5” downspout? I’ve been searching and searching but have some up empty.
Why wouldn't you feed the second barrel from the bottom? Seems water would collect there when you keep drawing from the top of the first barrel.
Edit: oh you do have it. I missed the lower hose. So now I wonder what the point of the top hos is? Overflow? But if the top overflows the bottom is already full. So why?
Does the split main shut off assembly work in a similar fashion to a Venturi fertilizer injection System?
I.e. does the water in the rain barrel get drawn into the system by gravity AND the pressure of the main line?
I would like to use your system design to deliver fertilizer to the garden and am wondering if it would be an effective?
Great videos by the way!🌱🙏🏼
If you make a complete loop it will make your system pressure the same all the way around