Anyone using Drip Irrigation ?

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aquabliss

aquabliss

Well-known member
I know there is another thread about sprinklers vs. drip but I'm wondering specifically if any of you are using drip and what your timer / frequency settings are?

I'm definitely not a plant guy and have little to no experience with plants - my contractor just completed installing my drip system and he has set it to run every morning for 3 minutes.  He said this is a very typical setting for this climate but my first thought was "wow, that's not much time at all" seems like sprinklers run at least 10-15 minutes for plants.

I'm basically watering small shrubs (boxwood, gardenia bushes, etc), and some small trees like dwarf cypress.  They put one tube running from the hub to each shrub.

If anyone has been successfully using drip, can you let me know your timer settings and what has worked best for you? 
 
I don't really know what the correct time for drip systems are but 10-15 minutes at a time for sprinklers on plants seems too long.

I think my max time for any section in all my years has been 5 minutes and right now my timers are set to 2 or 3 minutes, once a day, 3-5 days a week.
 
10-15 minutes for tree and shrubs over a week is fine (i.e. total, not everyday), anything over that is excessive, especially considering that we are going through a drought.

You can start with the IRWD recommended watering schedule and adjust as necessary. The schedule can be found at http://www.irwd.com/save-water-money/watering-schedule.

Drip irrigation watering will depend on your system and the throughput of the line. Most drip systems have an output of 1gph (1 gallon per hour), vs most sprinklers have an output of 1gpm (1 gallon per minute).
 
i water our plants using sprinklers. 3 times a week for 3 minutes in the winter/spring/fall and 5 minutes in the summer.
 
I have mine set to twice a day for 15 minutes 3 days a week.  If you feel the soil it's stays fairly saturated with water and I haven't seen a need to up it.
 
HomeOwner Irvine said:
10-15 minutes for tree and shrubs over a week is fine (i.e. total, not everyday), anything over that is excessive, especially considering that we are going through a drought.

You can start with the IRWD recommended watering schedule and adjust as necessary. The schedule can be found at http://www.irwd.com/save-water-money/watering-schedule.

Drip irrigation watering will depend on your system and the throughput of the line. Most drip systems have an output of 1gph (1 gallon per hour), vs most sprinklers have an output of 1gpm (1 gallon per minute).
Click to expand...

Looking at the IRWD watering schedule, in Feb it calls for 1 day per week, with two watering events at 3 min each?  Seems sparse.  Am I reading it right?
 
aquabliss said:
I know there is another thread about sprinklers vs. drip but I'm wondering specifically if any of you are using drip and what your timer / frequency settings are?

I'm definitely not a plant guy and have little to no experience with plants - my contractor just completed installing my drip system and he has set it to run every morning for 3 minutes.  He said this is a very typical setting for this climate but my first thought was "wow, that's not much time at all" seems like sprinklers run at least 10-15 minutes for plants.

I'm basically watering small shrubs (boxwood, gardenia bushes, etc), and some small trees like dwarf cypress.  They put one tube running from the hub to each shrub.

If anyone has been successfully using drip, can you let me know your timer settings and what has worked best for you?
Click to expand...

Drip irrigation delivers water at a much  slower rate  then sprinklers. So yes, you would need to let it run longer than what you would run sprinklers. 3 minutes is definitely low. I currently have mine set at 10 minutes, 3 times a week.

I came across this website with a quick search:http://farmerfredrant.blogspot.com/2013/06/drip-irrigation-how-long-do-i-water.html
 
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