Travis, we have been using both tape and line for 4 years now. I will offer a tip or two especially helpful to us older folks who might have some problems pushing the main line onto the 5/8" fittings. It pushes onto the barb easier when heated. A glass of hot water (not boiling hot) can be used to dip the end of the tubing right before pushing it onto the large barb (this also works with the 1/4" fittings for the drip line). It's not easy to dip the end of a long length of main line, so I bought a 18v Ryobi cordless heat gun. A second or two to heat the end and it goes on like butter. It also softens the main line if you need to take a fitting off to make a change. Just buy the heat gun for whatever battery line you use (I have Ryobi and Makita but the Makita gun was 2x the Ryobi in cost). Drip is the way to go, either tape or line......
Ditto about the hot water! We have an old small thermal coffee cup with a sliding lid that is part of our ‘irrigation’ equipment when doing any installs.
I’ve been using drip tape in my veggie garden since 2009. I use drip tubing in my hedgerows and orchard. Flower borders I use a mix of mainline, drip tube and 1/4” tubing.
Love drip irrigation! It takes a lot of worry and hassle out of watering the gardens. Put it on a timer and the all my garden areas are taken care of. No hauling buckets or watering cans around. Plus, if I need to go out of town, the timer has me covered. I use tubing and my biggest complaint is that, regardless of who makes the stuff, there is always a few emitters that just won't "emit". This is the reason I keep all my tubing off-cuts so that I have extra emitter sections I can use to splice in for bad emitters. Always lay your tubing out and test it for a good 10 minutes or more to see if all the emitters are working. Don't be surprised if a few don't. Just splice in an emitter using the straight barbs and you're good to go. It's as easy as lego.
I really like drip tape in the garden. It was intimidating at first but with anything; once you learn how, it is easy! Serious time saver and beats hand watering all to pieces. Go for it, you won't be sorry.
I live in Texas and it's pretty sandy. If not for drip tape I would have had no garden at all. Blistering heat and ran the tape at night and things that would not have survived did because of no overhead watering caused diseases.
We use the tubing, but we've never used staples. We put wood chips on top of the drip tubing to hold the tubing in place. We've been reusing our tubing for a few years with no problems.
Locally at Ewing Irrigation near Austin where most contractors buy product commercially the staff told me there is no demand for drip tape so it's not carried. Drip tubing in 1/4 and 5/8 in 6 and 12 inch perforations are available
Thanks Travis! You've made it so easy to understand the difference between the two irrigation lines. I am planting Dahlias in a raised bed and will probably use 1/4 inch drip line hooked up to a irrigation station Thats already used for other Dahlias and roses in ground. I'm hoping the PI will be fine for the raised bed as well. Do you have a PI recommendation PI for my raised bed? Debi
I added drip irrigation to my garden beds this past year and I buried them under my seeds during planting. The only issue I have is my soil has so much clay the underground didn’t soak the ground enough. I may this year use the same lines but lay on top of rows after planting
I've been using a damaged soaker hose set up for a few years (15). It's quite literally sections of soaker hose we've cut out of expensive hose set ups, cobbled together with various repair kits and (my favorite) capped off with pencil wraps held closed with rusted smiley face binder clips and the occasional aluminum crochet/quilt clamp. Our supply lines are hoses elevated on 4x4 posts swinging from bed to bed and greenhouse to chicken house. It's ridiculous. It's also hilarious...see, I'm a piping designer by trade and I have this really awful set up. I can plumb an aircraft carrier but not my backyard garden. 😂 It's because I'm always moving things around to get the efficiency and lighting and ground conditions correct. I figured the layout about 3 years ago and started to establish "permanent beds" which should be finished by next summer. I live in a swamp so there's a lot of "standing water" issues that need to be remedied. Okra likes the wet conditions and Sunflower doesn't seem to mind, the beans seem to be thriving... but everything else wants dry land to grow on at least some of the time. Regardless of my plumbing knowledge, I very much appreciate the low down on the materials used. Purchasing the right materials can really make or break a project. So, thank you!
Me and my husband spent a lot of time and money running mainline and drip tubing to all of my raised beds this year. I noticed a large puddle in the low spot of the garden and we looked endlessly for leaks. I cannot find any, but my plants were suffering in the heat and seemed to not get enough water. The only thing I can think of, is the compost we bought from the local nursery drains too well and the water was just running through the beds and pooling in the low spot of the garden. I have no clue how to fix it other than amending over time with peat moss and vermiculite. I believe I will run over head sprinklers next summer and see if that works better. The corn plot behind my raised beds was watered using the Senninger X-cel wobbler and the beds that got the overlap of watering did much better, and held the water better.
I hope for your sake that your multiplying onions have bumper crops, because there have been people who have been asking for sources for them and I have recommended them to you. 😁
Do you use the same pressure regulator for both tape and tubing? I know tape needs 10psi, but my understanding is tubing can run with 15 to 25psi. Please let me know if you stick with 10psi for both products. Thanks
This was my first year using drip irrigation and it was much easier than I thought it would be. I ordered mine from Drip Depot. The hardest part for me was trying to figure out exactly what I needed, but I ordered extra so that I wouldn't run out. I am 70 yrs old and had no problem doing this myself. I have the Vego beds and used 1/2" main line and 1/4" drip tubing with 6" spacing. Thanks to your video Travis, I also did a spider web design on my round bed. I do have a question though, you just mentioned hooking up a hose to your in ground set up instead of a spigot.? It would sure be easier for me if this is possible? Thanks, love your videos!
@@tammyohlsson7966On the 2nd order I spent the extra money on the fittings like Travis showed that screw tight to close. I found them much easier for my small hands to push together and feel like they will hold up better, plus if you need to change tubing , you can re-use them.
When installing your fruit tree setup, do you have parameters for maximum length of mainline tubing for each run as well as the maximum number of emmiters per run? Thanks
My well does about 8 gal/min and I use a single 1 gal/hr emitter on each tree. So I figure my system can handle around 450 trees at a time before I'd need to split it into sections.
I have City water(highly chlorinated) and normally water with collected rain water. This limits the size of my garden because of the hand watering. Would like the convenience of installed irrigation. Do you think the Chlorine would have a negative affect on my soil health?
Depends on the veggie and the temperature outside. If we've got corn near maturity and it's hot outside, we'll run it all night. Other times we'll run it just an hour or two.
I use neither as they do not provide enough water output in the heat of the summer to provide the entire bed deep watering unless you run it continuously as it evaporates to quickly in the heat. I use only early morning overhead watering.
Same here in Florida. Drip systems have a lot of problems that I don't want to deal with. I developed a new kind of irrigator that sends 36 needle-fine streams down to the ground to precisely water plants without all the fuss of drip systems.
Neither. We use drippers for the fig trees. Here's a blog on our site that breaks down that setup: lazydogfarm.com/blogs/garden-journal/our-new-fig-tree-irrigation-system
You can plant the tubers directly in the ground, but we pre-sprouted it in our greenhouse this past year and transplanted it. It likes hot soils. You can plant it in early spring, but it probably won't sprout until the middle of summer when it gets really hot outside.
My style of gardening dictates that I use tubing rather than tape. Drip Depot carries the Perma-Loc brand of fittings which are a pleasure to work with and yield a no--leak connection. I always smear a little dab of silicone where a goof plug enters the main line. Again no leakiness. Heads up, ya''ll. Wood Prairie has his 2024 crop in and is offering Sarpo Mira seed potatoes in larger quantities than last year's one pound limit. He will sell out soon. Best potato I've yet encountered. Don't go to sleep on that one.
First year with drip tape... not impressed. The water bill trippled, and brand new tape from a well known company shot out New holes (yes I had a pressure regulator on it).
Interesting. I've used just about every brand of tape out there and have never had a leak form that wasn't my fault (hitting it with a hoe, mainly). I almost wonder if you don't have rodents or wireworms chewing into it.
I had the same issue. A couple times I know I did puncture the drip tape. I replaced 9 lines over the spring summer growing season. After the first two I stopped using any tools any only used my hands to work the soul. All 8’ raised beds so it just took longer.
Travis, we have been using both tape and line for 4 years now. I will offer a tip or two especially helpful to us older folks who might have some problems pushing the main line onto the 5/8" fittings. It pushes onto the barb easier when heated. A glass of hot water (not boiling hot) can be used to dip the end of the tubing right before pushing it onto the large barb (this also works with the 1/4" fittings for the drip line). It's not easy to dip the end of a long length of main line, so I bought a 18v Ryobi cordless heat gun. A second or two to heat the end and it goes on like butter. It also softens the main line if you need to take a fitting off to make a change. Just buy the heat gun for whatever battery line you use (I have Ryobi and Makita but the Makita gun was 2x the Ryobi in cost). Drip is the way to go, either tape or line......
Ditto about the hot water! We have an old small thermal coffee cup with a sliding lid that is part of our ‘irrigation’ equipment when doing any installs.
I’ve been using drip tape in my veggie garden since 2009. I use drip tubing in my hedgerows and orchard. Flower borders I use a mix of mainline, drip tube and 1/4” tubing.
Love drip irrigation! It takes a lot of worry and hassle out of watering the gardens. Put it on a timer and the all my garden areas are taken care of. No hauling buckets or watering cans around. Plus, if I need to go out of town, the timer has me covered. I use tubing and my biggest complaint is that, regardless of who makes the stuff, there is always a few emitters that just won't "emit". This is the reason I keep all my tubing off-cuts so that I have extra emitter sections I can use to splice in for bad emitters. Always lay your tubing out and test it for a good 10 minutes or more to see if all the emitters are working. Don't be surprised if a few don't. Just splice in an emitter using the straight barbs and you're good to go. It's as easy as lego.
Mine is a 100% elevated container garden. I'm pleased as pie with my drip tubing and timer
I really like drip tape in the garden. It was intimidating at first but with anything; once you learn how, it is easy! Serious time saver and beats hand watering all to pieces. Go for it, you won't be sorry.
Always something I can use on Lazy Dog Farm!!! Thanks Travis.
I live in Texas and it's pretty sandy. If not for drip tape I would have had no garden at all. Blistering heat and ran the tape at night and things that would not have survived did because of no overhead watering caused diseases.
Travis, Thanks again for clarifying the tubing. All the best
This was very helpful. Thanks.
Thanks Travis. 1st rate. Chuck in Jensen Beach, Florida.
We use the tubing, but we've never used staples. We put wood chips on top of the drip tubing to hold the tubing in place. We've been reusing our tubing for a few years with no problems.
Thanks for the info I'm getting ready to place irrigation in my garden and was wondering which I should use. Love your posts.
Thanks!
Good job, great information!
Locally at Ewing Irrigation near Austin where most contractors buy product commercially the staff told me there is no demand for drip tape so it's not carried. Drip tubing in 1/4 and 5/8 in 6 and 12 inch perforations are available
Great info... Thanks 😊
Thanks Travis! You've made it so easy to understand the difference between the two irrigation lines. I am planting Dahlias in a raised bed and will probably use 1/4 inch drip line hooked up to a irrigation station Thats already used for other Dahlias and roses in ground. I'm hoping the PI will be fine for the raised bed as well. Do you have a PI recommendation PI for my raised bed? Debi
HOW-TO IRRIGATION BLOGS:
Raised Bed Drip Irrigation: bit.ly/3MkcIX4
Fruit Tree Drip Irrigation: bit.ly/3UVaH7U
In-Ground Drip Irrigation: bit.ly/3CnysxY
I added drip irrigation to my garden beds this past year and I buried them under my seeds during planting. The only issue I have is my soil has so much clay the underground didn’t soak the ground enough. I may this year use the same lines but lay on top of rows after planting
Thank You!
I've been using a damaged soaker hose set up for a few years (15). It's quite literally sections of soaker hose we've cut out of expensive hose set ups, cobbled together with various repair kits and (my favorite) capped off with pencil wraps held closed with rusted smiley face binder clips and the occasional aluminum crochet/quilt clamp. Our supply lines are hoses elevated on 4x4 posts swinging from bed to bed and greenhouse to chicken house. It's ridiculous. It's also hilarious...see, I'm a piping designer by trade and I have this really awful set up. I can plumb an aircraft carrier but not my backyard garden. 😂 It's because I'm always moving things around to get the efficiency and lighting and ground conditions correct. I figured the layout about 3 years ago and started to establish "permanent beds" which should be finished by next summer. I live in a swamp so there's a lot of "standing water" issues that need to be remedied. Okra likes the wet conditions and Sunflower doesn't seem to mind, the beans seem to be thriving... but everything else wants dry land to grow on at least some of the time. Regardless of my plumbing knowledge, I very much appreciate the low down on the materials used. Purchasing the right materials can really make or break a project. So, thank you!
Me and my husband spent a lot of time and money running mainline and drip tubing to all of my raised beds this year. I noticed a large puddle in the low spot of the garden and we looked endlessly for leaks. I cannot find any, but my plants were suffering in the heat and seemed to not get enough water. The only thing I can think of, is the compost we bought from the local nursery drains too well and the water was just running through the beds and pooling in the low spot of the garden. I have no clue how to fix it other than amending over time with peat moss and vermiculite. I believe I will run over head sprinklers next summer and see if that works better. The corn plot behind my raised beds was watered using the Senninger X-cel wobbler and the beds that got the overlap of watering did much better, and held the water better.
I hope for your sake that your multiplying onions have bumper crops, because there have been people who have been asking for sources for them and I have recommended them to you. 😁
Thanks for not keeping us a secret!
Do you use the same pressure regulator for both tape and tubing? I know tape needs 10psi, but my understanding is tubing can run with 15 to 25psi. Please let me know if you stick with 10psi for both products. Thanks
Yes
This was my first year using drip irrigation and it was much easier than I thought it would be. I ordered mine from Drip Depot. The hardest part for me was trying to figure out exactly what I needed, but I ordered extra so that I wouldn't run out. I am 70 yrs old and had no problem doing this myself. I have the Vego beds and used 1/2" main line and 1/4" drip tubing with 6" spacing. Thanks to your video Travis, I also did a spider web design on my round bed. I do have a question though, you just mentioned hooking up a hose to your in ground set up instead of a spigot.? It would sure be easier for me if this is possible? Thanks, love your videos!
This encourages me. If you can do it, so can I. Super intimidated by it. Blessings!
@@tammyohlsson7966On the 2nd order I spent the extra money on the fittings like Travis showed that screw tight to close. I found them much easier for my small hands to push together and feel like they will hold up better, plus if you need to change tubing , you can re-use them.
When installing your fruit tree setup, do you have parameters for maximum length of mainline tubing for each run as well as the maximum number of emmiters per run? Thanks
My well does about 8 gal/min and I use a single 1 gal/hr emitter on each tree. So I figure my system can handle around 450 trees at a time before I'd need to split it into sections.
I have City water(highly chlorinated) and normally water with collected rain water. This limits the size of my garden because of the hand watering. Would like the convenience of installed irrigation. Do you think the Chlorine would have a negative affect on my soil health?
I've never watered with chlorinated water, so hard to say. I'd probably try to get a filter to remove the chlorine though if that's feasible.
💪🏽
Travis, which emitter GPH do you prefer on your drip tape?
I usually don't pay much attention to the GPH. I more look at the emitter spacing and thickness.
How long do you water each day with the irrigation system. And do you water every other day?
Depends on the veggie and the temperature outside. If we've got corn near maturity and it's hot outside, we'll run it all night. Other times we'll run it just an hour or two.
Please answer: about what pressure regulator for the tape and for the tubing ? Thanks!
We use the same pressure regulator and filter for both the tape and the tubing -- same one we installed in the video.
@@LazyDogFarm and what is the maximum pressure set at?
I use neither as they do not provide enough water output in the heat of the summer to provide the entire bed deep watering unless you run it continuously as it evaporates to quickly in the heat. I use only early morning overhead watering.
Same here in Florida. Drip systems have a lot of problems that I don't want to deal with. I developed a new kind of irrigator that sends 36 needle-fine streams down to the ground to precisely water plants without all the fuss of drip systems.
Which one do you use for tree's
Neither. We use drippers for the fig trees. Here's a blog on our site that breaks down that setup: lazydogfarm.com/blogs/garden-journal/our-new-fig-tree-irrigation-system
@@LazyDogFarmalways seems like a fruit tree could use more coverage than an emitter or two. Does that really suffice for a tree ?
How do you get turmeric started and how do you o plant it and when
You can plant the tubers directly in the ground, but we pre-sprouted it in our greenhouse this past year and transplanted it. It likes hot soils. You can plant it in early spring, but it probably won't sprout until the middle of summer when it gets really hot outside.
I think they don't recommend 1/4 drip tubing runs over 15 ft so it has limitations.
Good point.
What psi works best on 1/4 inch tubing emitter every 6”? 6 ft length or 12 ft if no flow problem.
I would use a 20 psi regulator.
@@matthewking2209 Thanks will go with 20.
My style of gardening dictates that I use tubing rather than tape. Drip Depot carries the Perma-Loc brand of fittings which are a pleasure to work with and yield a no--leak connection. I always smear a little dab of silicone where a goof plug enters the main line. Again no leakiness.
Heads up, ya''ll. Wood Prairie has his 2024 crop in and is offering Sarpo Mira seed potatoes in larger quantities than last year's one pound limit. He will sell out soon. Best potato I've yet encountered. Don't go to sleep on that one.
Great heads up!
First year with drip tape... not impressed. The water bill trippled, and brand new tape from a well known company shot out New holes (yes I had a pressure regulator on it).
It takes some math to set a system up properly and it starts with knowing how many gallons per minute your water supply is doing.
Interesting. I've used just about every brand of tape out there and have never had a leak form that wasn't my fault (hitting it with a hoe, mainly). I almost wonder if you don't have rodents or wireworms chewing into it.
I had the same issue. A couple times I know I did puncture the drip tape. I replaced 9 lines over the spring summer growing season. After the first two I stopped using any tools any only used my hands to work the soul. All 8’ raised beds so it just took longer.