My wife is leaving to visit her mother for a month overseas so the responsibly of the garden falls upon me. During her absence, I am going to try to accomplish a few things such as getting my HAM license, put up a outside TV antenna (we have no television) and I am thinking about trying to automate the watering of the garden. I was looking at the DIG system on Amazon and was wondering if anyone on the forum uses something like this, it's pros and cons, and is it truly worth it? Our garden is not huge, takes about 40 minutes per day to water it and fruit trees, all veggies are in raised beds...just trying to decide if this is worth the time, effort and money and would appreciate any knowledge anyone could pass me. Amazon.com : DIG ML50 Vegetable Garden Drip Irrigation Kit (62 Pieces) : Automatic Lawn Drippers : Patio, Lawn & Garden
Yes drip is good to have, but I don't use a kit.... ever... it's not rocket science. Too much stuff you don't need... You can use the timers that screw onto your hose bib, (faucet to you non technical types), or have a central one that will control up to 4-6 valves, that are hooked straight into your water system (the faucet ones freeze in the winter). Put them in a valve control box. You can get most of the stuff you need at W-Mart. I use dripirrigation dot com I have 3 hose bib units and 3 plumbed in units. Rancher
@azrancher okay, I will take a walk around Wally Mart and see what they have. I see what you mean...better to purchasing exactly what you need. Looking at the website now that you sent. Do you have to take this stuff inside in the winters? Winters are pretty harsh here in Northern Idaho...
Yeah no the fixed stuff is in valve boxes, you would need to heat those in the winter, probably 12 volt RV bulb would do that, the screw on the hose bib stuff always seems to freeze down here in AZ. If you remember to bring that stuff inside in the winter, that is best, But I like the permanent installation better, of course we don't have a freeze level in our ground, only about 1/4"... but we do get nights in the 10's and did get a zero degree night a few years ago, I think you guys sent it South... Rancher
Go to HomeDepot /lowes and buy parts in bulk. Drip Irrigation - Watering & Irrigation - Garden Center - The Home Depot Drip Irrigation System Buying Guide Shop Drip Irrigation at Lowes.com! More than enough youtube videos to show you the way And as Rancher says you can buy "hose" timers that attch to a hose bib
I will need to connect a ~50 foot hose from the facet (on the house) to a timer or pressure control located in the garden as need a way to mow the grass so connection can't be permanent. Of course, the garden portion can but not the water supply (hose) coming from house...hmmm, unless I bury it ...run a water pipe (PVC) in a trench and put facet in garden. The first video showing all the components showed me about everything I need to know. Pretty simple but effective.
Northern Idaho, you say? Methinks the hose idea is a LOT better. It tends to be difficult draining buried pipe --. Now, if you bury the pipe starting inside the house, and put a proper hydrant in the garden, the scheme might yet work. What is the depth of bury required for fire piping in your nekka? Or you might put a drain valve in the basement ---
All you have to do is use your Air Compressor, to blow all the water put of the Pipes, BEFORE the first HARD FALL FREEZE... then don't reenergize them till after the LAST HARD FREEZE in the Spring.... I do this with my Summer Water System, that feeds the cabin, and it has worked for decades....
@ghrit Great minds think alike! Yes, I was thinking of this but I have a work around. The slope of the ground leading from the house facet to the garden is truly downhill so I could easily drain it every early fall before first freeze just like I take in all the hoses and use @BTPost idea of blowing it out with a compressor if I get nervous. Use outdoor pvc, burying it about a foot down so it is out of the way even put a facet at the garden end, don't have to even come out of the ground very far...yeah, as long as I drain it I think I would be okay.
