Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
starting my first raised bed and wanted to explore the toro blue srtipe tubing system. bed is '8X'4 x '2.5 high. The location gets 5-6 hours or direct sun. summers are 80-100 here.
1/4 tube looks really thin. should i do 1/2? Home depot has more stuff for 1/2. there is a boxed kit that has some flag micros etc.- thought of adding something to get water up top as well.
ideally i'd love to flip a lever and have my nutes added from a bucket or sorts on demand. might add a timer, not sure if they have that skip days. i.e. water every other day.
anyway wanted some feedback on the tubing size. raised bed is taller than most and with the slight gaps inthe wood i think it'll dry out much faster. TIA
Usually, 1/2" inch is used as the "main" supply with 1/4" coming off of the 1/2" line. If this is only for one bed you could get away with 1/4". The potential problem is it is easy to exceed the total volume a 1/4" line can supply if you have enough drippers/emitters.
I drip-irrigate flats and 1-gallons in a greenhouse. I use 1/2" for distribution and couple 1/4" for the drippers into each 4" pot, which there are 16 per flat. During my first try at this I tried to be cheap and use 1/4" with a bunch of "Ts" going to each 4" pot. I quickly exceeded the volume of water 1/4" can carry. 10 flats is 160 drippers. Of course, you probably won't come close to that, but it is something to consider.
Drip irrigation manufacturers also recommend a maximum length of 25 ft to about 40 ft (depending on mfr) of 1/4" line. They don't state why, but I'm guessing this is due to the resistance of the small tubing.
Thanks for the reply. Still thinking this through I'm actually only"18 high. I figure i'll create 2 rows and 3 columns with the tubing. bed is 8X4. I'll have maybe 4 flag and 2 rotating emitters.
can i get away with the 1/4 or would you suggest the 1/2?
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
