watering polytunnel

[pongeroon]

Hello everyone

I am thinking up ideas for keeping the tunnel watered this season. Last year we had two water butts which we kept topped up and watered with a can. It worked well, but we are both working, so sometimes it got left a bit too long. At the end of the season (when the taps get turned off for the winter, grrrr) the net effect was a rather dry tunnel.

I like the idea of leaky hoses, with a water butt for either side of the tunnel, with a hose in situ, and maybe three hoses off that running the length of the tunnel. Ends bunged up with chewing gum or whatever, and small holes drilled into hoses. That way we only have to fill up the water butts when they are empty and don't have to fiddle about with cans. Does this sound feasible? Anyone else done it? Got any tips?I know it is possible to buy kits, but for the whole tunnel I think they will be very pricey and I'm too mean.

[FelixLeiter]

It's a practical scheme. But I wouldn't be so sure that making holes in hosepipe is any cheaper than buying purpose-manufactured irrigation pipe such as Leaky Pipe. You'll still need to buy hosepipe, I'm thinking, so the way I see it, you might as well buy one that already leaks and leaks in a controlled way that it is designed to do. Although I haven't priced it up you need to look at it from the point of view of whether the home-holed hosepipe is going to be at all effective. The way I see it, it will be difficult to make the holes so that the water leaks evenly; I can only suppose that the watering will be patchy at best. It'd be a false economy, if indeed it is an economy at all: it might not even work very well and then you'll have ruined hosepipe for nothing. To block the ends, by the way, tie a knot in it.

[John]

Hello Pg
I would go for soaker hoses. Drilling holes in a hose might prove tricky as they will need to be very fine and spacing will be difficult to work out.
I use soaker hoses a lot outdoors and have found them very good. A word of warning though - don't use the simple push fittings that are about for using with these hoses as they soon split the tubing. Best to use the hozelock type connectors with a little washing up liquid as lubrication for an easy fit. These are expensive but if you shop around you can often pick them up cheap - last year Tesco had them at half price.

John

[sally wright]

Dear All,
Soaker hose or leaky pipe comes with all kinds of fittings which can be purchased seperately. For ease of fitting I find a cup of boiling water is useful to get hoses onto fittings. The hose is dipped into the hot water for about a minute to soften it and it will go on quite easily. Better than getting washing up liquid everywhere.

That said a little used in the watering can overcome the difficulties of re-wetting an over dry soil. To overcome the raised alkalinity this may cause add some vinegar to a couple of subsequent waterings. If you are using soaker hose from mains water the limescale will eventually clog the pores, to slow this process cover the pipes with compost or soil and soak in a vinegar or limescale remover bath at the end of the season before putting them away.

Where I work we use a lot of leaky pipe and because we connect to a pumped irrigation system and the mains we use jubilee clips on all the joints to prevent the fittings from coming apart at inconvenient moments.
Lay out pipes on warm days as this will cause less stress on the crumb rubber of the leaky pipes. Put them in after planting to avoid skewering them with forks etc. In the Autumn take up the pipes and put them away in a dark place to extend the lifespan of the pipes.

If it is suitable, water collection systems can be fitted to polytunnels and there are various kits on the market for this. The addition of timers to the watering system could take a lot of irregularities out of irrigating and will give more even coverage.
Regards Sally Wright.

[Veggiemite]

I like the idea of using soaking hoses in a pollytunnel. How is the soaking hose attached to the water butt and can several be attached at the same time?Will the water pressure be enough to drive the water through the hose. As I cannot attend my allotment every day a battery operated timer would be a great addition. I have used one of these in my garden attached to an outside water tap but wil the same type of timer work with a water butt /soaker hose system? I could add tomato fertiliser to the water thereby having a semi automatic watering feeding system.
Would this work?

[pongeroon]

Last summer I watered the tunnel by dropping the hose into the water butt, making sure the end was at the bottom, and allowing the water to siphon out. I then had to move the hose every so often, but it freed me up to do other stuff at the same time.

My idea is to do a slightly more efficient version of the same principle. I have aquired (ligitimately!) some lengths of hose so intend to lay them out over the ground and make them into leaky pipes. If it doesn't work, nothing lost. The idea is to just fill the butts (one each side of the tunnel) and let physics do the rest. I suppose water pressure will drive the water through the hose, though the more hose the longer it will take (?? my grasp of physics is not great) but time is not important if it is left to it. And adding fertiliser sounds a good idea.

[sally wright]

Dear All,
soaker hose or seep hose is designed to work especially with the low pressure of a water butt. If the butt has a tap just connect it to that and open the tap. That said it would be best if the butt was on a stand or blocks for a little extra height.
Regards Sally Wright.

[FelixLeiter]

That said it would be best if the butt was on a stand or blocks for a little extra height.

This is good advice, and it's essential if all the water in the butt is to be used. You need to elevate your water supply to give sufficient hydraulic head to overcome any friction in the system. Essentially, a full water butt flows much faster than a nearly empty one and you need to make adjustments for this.

[sally wright]

Dear Pongeroon,
when making use of leaky hoses the best way to use them in in a loop so that the water pressure is more equal throughout the pipe. Also try to make any connecting hoses the same length for the same reason. Dead ends to delivery systems like these are not good for even watering.
Regards Sally Wright.

[pongeroon]

Thanks Sally. I was trying to think of cheap ways (recycling) to connect hoses, then I thought why not just loop hose where I want it to go? Much simpler! Your post has confirmed that this is a better idea. All I need now is the time to go and do it! Although the water at the allotment doesn't get turned on until the end of March, which means everyones tunnels are very dry.

[Johnboy]

I do not have leaky pipe irrigation but throughout the plot I have heavy mist systems which are run off the main. In order to get an even spread my irrigation is fed from both ends of the pipe and with such things as runner beans and peas it really gives a very even flow with all jets within a jot of each other. Whether this would work similarly with leaky pipes I am not sure but feel that it has a good chance.
JB.

[Veggiemite]

I've had a go at dropping the end of the leaky pipes into a bucket of water set at a high level but nothing happens..
Am I meant to suck the end of the pipe to get the siphon going? Don't like the idea of that , but if necessary!!!

[Geoff]

I'm afraid basic Physics is against you, you won't be able to syphon through a leaky hose as air will go in rather than water out.

[sally wright]

If you use a piece of normal hose from inside the water butt to the ground then the siphon will work but you will have to suck and reconnect each time you use the system.
Regards Sally Wright.