Irrigation
Find a good reference book These are only examples of reference books available and are not specifically endorsed by MSU Extension. Online resources are also available through various State Extension Services
Determining Water Needs Make a plan Measure the flow rate Determine i soil type Select appropriate plant material Design irrigation system
Make a plan Outline the areas to be watered on your property and what will be planted there Use a scale (such as 1/10 inch = 1 ) Determine the water use for each area Turf Flower bd beds Garden Trees
Measure the flow rate At the water source (usually at hose bib or other water line) Measure the pressure using a pressure gauge Or, call your local water company Measure the flow rate Take a one gallon container and time how long it takes to fill it with the valve full open Use a larger bucket and calculate Gallons per minute Gallons perhour
Water flow rate Seconds to GPM GPH Seconds = seconds to fill fill 1 gal. one gallon container 12 5.0 300 14 4.3 257 16 3.75 225 GPM = Gll Gallons per minute 18 3.3 200 20 30 3.0 180 g Used for determining lawn sprinklers GPH = Gallons per hour Used to determine drip irrigation
Selecting irrigation sprinklers Impact Spray head Bubbler Drip irrigation T tape
Turf type sprinklers Impact Spray head Usually are rated in GPM Adjustable (Impact and some spray) ¼, ½, ¾, or full turn (spray) Radius is important
Turf type irrigation components Valve box Valve (with solenoid) Controller Wire Pipe and fittings Back flow preventer
Turf irrigation considerations Separate fromflowerflower beds and gardens Head to head coverage Will require several zones Will take some careful consideration You may want to hire a professional
Drip irrigation Best used in flower beds, trees, shrubs and gardens Can be moved or added on as the plants get bigger Water savings Delivers water slowly and where it is needed Reduces weeds Easy installation Low maintenance Less disease Tip: Contact your local drip irrigation provider. Many are very helpful in setting you up providing you have a good plan and to scale!
If you can play tinker toys, you can put together th a drip di irrigation i system
Drip system components Filter Filter Removes particles in the water that can clog emitters Screen can be cleaned regularly Pressure reducer Pressure reducer Reduces the water pressure Most drip pressure is between 10 and 35 PSI
Drip system components Poly Pipe ½ Compression fittings ¼ barb fittings and emitter Spaghetti tube Poly Pipe 1/2 Used as a manifold ¼ Fittings for Spaghetti tubes pushed directly into poly pipe ¼ Spaghetti tube Various fittings
Drip system components Bubblers Good around newly planted trees and shrubs Drip Emitters Several differentsizes Examples: 0.5 GPH, 1.0 GPH, 2.0 GPH Determine the plants water needs when installing Can always be added to
T tape in the vegetable garden Laid along rows Water drips from tape at equal distances Relatively lti l cheap Used more than one season Less weeds Less disease
T tape in the vegetable garden Uses the same type of yp manifold for other drip systems ( ½ poly) It is nice to incorporate a valve so that rows can be shut off Use U stakes to hold down t tape
T tape and drip irrigation in the vegetable garden
Blowing out the system Anything using PVC needs to be blown out in the fall to prevent pipes from breaking Use a low pressure/high h volume compressor Manually open and close valves to prevent breaking; rather than use controller Most construction type compressors don t work well due to high pressure and low volume Wait for all the water to leave the system These compressors don t have enough volume This is a high volume/low pressure compressor used to blow out irrigation systems
Questions? End