I'm installing new raised beds, and would like to put in a controllable irrigation system - like a soaker hose or similar that would use the water butt on my greenhouse.
Anyone else done this?
What system do you use?
Is one water butt enough?
Can the system be extended to other areas of the garden at a later stage?
The beds I'm creating are two of 10' x 3' - 1m x 3m for the more metrically minded.
The soil is heavy clay, and one bed doesn't drain v. well, so not anticipating using toooooo much water, but enough to keep veggies going over the hot summer weather, especially when we're away.
Irrigation system
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Compo
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Hi Maz,
Well you can definitely get a timer that operates on a 9volt battery, but remember the water pressure from the water butt is much lower than the mains pressure, so you will need to make sure it opens on low pressure, I got one from B&Q quite cheaply, just over a tenner I remember, it takes all kinds of pipe and usually starts off with a standard hozelok female thread, you could then buy some soaker hose, but remember not to anticpate too long a run of pipe because with the low pressure the water might not get to the end of the pipe so you will need to experiment. Also a water butt won't last long without being topped up if it is opening up once a day for half an hour or something.
Worth a try though.
Compo
Well you can definitely get a timer that operates on a 9volt battery, but remember the water pressure from the water butt is much lower than the mains pressure, so you will need to make sure it opens on low pressure, I got one from B&Q quite cheaply, just over a tenner I remember, it takes all kinds of pipe and usually starts off with a standard hozelok female thread, you could then buy some soaker hose, but remember not to anticpate too long a run of pipe because with the low pressure the water might not get to the end of the pipe so you will need to experiment. Also a water butt won't last long without being topped up if it is opening up once a day for half an hour or something.
Worth a try though.
Compo
Thanks Compo - sound advice, as usual. I am beginning to wonder how much irrigation I would need as the soil seems so poor draining ... I'm spending a lot of effort trying to incorporate compost and manure to improve draining at the mo. We've not had rain all April really, and it's still really heavy and damp in one of the beds.
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Colin Miles
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Not having to water too much in summer is one of the advantages of heavy clay. However, when it rains in winter you can have big problems with flooding. I ended up making my paths into ditches. If the ground isn't flat you need to look carefully to create drainage channels - but making raised beds may help solve the problem.
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Geoff
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Has anybody made soaker hoses work properly? I bought some last year for my squash / courgette bed and runner bean row but couldn't get very even coverage. Have I bought a poor type or are my slightly sloping beds not helping? My water pressure is quite high and I just turned them on manually not on a timer.