Thanks for the great input all-
One clarification up front- I already have this set up- Just haven't completed the layout, or the schematic to what is currently out there
What I've learned in irrigation classes as well as gleaned from the guys at the irrigation supply stores in my area is to avoid having emitters with different flow rates on the same line. Ultimately it won't necessarily do anything bad, it just means you will have to take into account the different flow rates and length of time for watering for the different emitters.
Also, it's nice to have the system connect back to itself instead of dead ending. It helps to equalize pressure throughout the system.
Are these on different zones or are you planning on having it be one zone overall?
Getting everything on irrigation is such a game changer! Regular consistent watering has definitely brought so much amazing growth with all my in ground plants.
As far as the flow rates I put plants that were a little more thirsty on the 2gph emitters
I tried to essentially make it a close loop other than the spurt to the drain at the bottom but I could cut more 3/4" main in to close the loops in the left half of the page and bottom right- for now it is all on one zone with the water amount being modified by emitters/length of drip line
Generally per plant you want to have two emitters, in case of failure of one (it happens). These are pretty low flow, .5 gph per tree ring or per emitter on the ring? Timing With the variable emitter rates will be interesting, how long would your run time be to get your desired application. What is your soil type?
For my trees in clay I have wrapped on grade inline tubing ranging from 4- 10 emitters (1 gph) on clay soil and it infiltrates just fine.
Is this for supplemental irrigation? I remember living in Houston getting dumped on with rain pretty regularly
This is great advice, I tried to get "non-clog" emitters of a few varieties to see which hold up and which are garbage. (toro, drip depot, etc.) I got .5gph based on the fact that I have really hard clay soil- although I just put a major layer of pine mulch down. For the emittersthe dots are single 0.5gph emitters, for the rings they are made of the 0.5gph drip line. For trialing things I have been doing 2 5 minute runs, one in the morning and one in the evening- but I will probably ultimately go with 15 minutes at 5am
Yes supplemental- normally you'd be right but we seem to be a part of this drought doing on this year and the hot temps have been roasting things
Drippers clog up. Drippers and bubblers dont cover enough area for roots to stretch out. Micro sprinklers and spinners do a better job of not clogging and also covering a larger area. 2gph is super low flow too. Those will need to run all day for a large tree. You can get micro sprinklers that will spit out 15-30gph.
As far as different flow rates, I dont think its a big deal. Bigger plant, bigger sprinkler same run time. Thats how I do it. I try and get as many trees on one line as possible and will use 2 differnt size emitters in one zone depending on tree size. You can aso get adjustable micrsprinklers and just dial them up or down depending the plants needs.
I assumed that the non-clog advertisement on some of these will be garbage- I have to say after trialing some of the other types vortex and mister seem to be my favorite but i am worried about clogging on both, the 2gph microsprinklers are really weak and basically cover 1 3 gallon pot which is not what I had envisioned, luckily I only bought 10.
I figures a larger drip ring = more water and I have made them to the natural drip lined of the trees- a lot of what I have is still small so I will switch things out as they grow.
My lessons have been:
1. Limit 1/4" use to short runs, it's pretty much done after 10'. 1/2" is losing pressure at around 200 ft. Limit the runs of smaller pipes when possible.
2. Limit the use of 90˚ connectors when possible, they reduce flow.
3. Try to evenly space tubes or pipes coming off of main lines when possible.
4. It is fine to use different emitters on the same line if they are adjustable.
5. I echo Brad in saying that drippers are probably fine for little baby geraniums in your front garden or whatever, but not appropriate for big trees. Even on a ring, too many emitters to take care of and have issues with leaks or whatever. Fewer = better.
6. Elevation matters and can reduce flow a lot.
I use micro sprinker spikes, 2 of them for big trees, 1 for small ones. The vortex ones are ok but kind of suck for tuning - but are very reliable and don't have as many issues. The "umbrella" style with a cap on top always get messed up and lose their cap and are just a jet after that. The 360˚ or 180˚ star pattern have their uses and I like them.
Your lay out looks good overall, just think about the emitter type and maybe do a test run with a 1/2" line to see how each one sprays, how far it goes, and make some decisions after that.
I think I addressed 1-5 above. 6 is important and I have gotten pressure compensating drip lines and drippers for the most part. (another thing not shown in the schematic is that the U in the middle left is running underneath pallets where I have raised plants in pots meaning roughly 2-3 ft elevation rise to get to the pots) the 2gph sprinklers just don't have the coverage I am hoping for and given I can probably fit 15-18 3gallon pots on 1 pallet that is a lot of tubing and emitters to get set up
