Drip Pipe Plant

Drip irrigation can be a great way to save water and slowly soak the roots of your plants. The pros of drip do seem to outweigh the cons but just like anything else there are disadvantages as well.

There are many different forms of drip irrigation but the most recognized is emitter tubing. The concept of these is similar to soaker hoses that you can buy at the box stores. Emitter tubing is a form of poly-pipe that has emitters every 9, 12 or 18 inches. These emitters can vary in output from 0.4 to 0.9 Gallons per Hour. Gallonage and spacing are usually selected by the given soil type, plant type, and cycle time restrictions. For example, if you had a clay soil, then a 0.4 gph running for a longer amount of time would give the water more time to soak into the ground. Spacings, output, and Run time can let you set the amount of given water per square foot to be applied as well. You can read more about these techniques at the Netafim site, listed at the end of this article. Babulnath Engineering for Drip Pipe Plant

In my adventures as an irrigation technician I have encountered and installed drip in many different areas. The worst that I have seen however, is emitter tubing installed in a seasonal planting bed. One property in particular was a restaurant/commercial lot that had a long planting bed down the sidewalk along the storefronts. Six different drip zones operated in sections along this bed. The system worked fine but every time the landscape company would come in to change out the seasonal plantings, they would leave behind a large number of cuts and breaks in the tubing. I'm sure you can imagine the frustration of the property owner having these repairs done every season. Babulnath Engineering for Drip Pipe Plant

Many times a drip zone at a residence or commercial property will go out without the property owner knowing it. A professional might come out to start up the system and dismiss the drip zones, as functional, without properly finding out their location and functionality. This problem can go on until the plants stress so badly that they have to be replaced at the owners cost. To prevent this in the future, certain steps can be taken. 1. A proper map of the system listing zone locations and types can ensure a proper walk-through by an otherwise compromising technician. 2. Drip emitter companies sell a device that has an actual plastic flag that pops up when the drip line is pressurized. This is a good tool as long as the location of the flags is known by the technician/homeowner. 3. It can be a good idea to install 1 spray head or similar sprinkler head on the zone with the emitter tubing. This can show whoever is checking the system, the location and functionality of the zone through the visual aspect of water. The sprinkler should have a very low precipitation rate to be able to run the amount of time that the drip will run without wasting too much water. Installing planter pot sprays off of the can also be a good way to visually show that the zone is running. Babulnath Engineering for Drip Pipe Plant

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