How to Set Up Simple Irrigation

Take the Drag Out of Watering

The Tropical Grower is watering this week in How to Set Up Simple Irrigation because I got so many questions after the irrigation section in How to Grow Common Root Crops, Part 1.  Who knew?  You’ve asked, and I’ve promised.  So, here we go, How to Set Up Simple Irrigation.

If you can unroll a new hose, connect it to the faucet, and turn it on, you can install an irrigation system.  Don’t be intimidated by the complex systems.  You know the ones with pipe installed by plumbers or irrigation specialists.  If you live in some subdivisions, they’re mysteriously underground, come on all by themselves without any help from you, and you have absolutely no control of them, even if you want it.  Laughing, those are pretty popular here, and are great for basic watering.  We’re not talking about those.

Simple Irrigation

You can recognize Simple Irrigation when hoses are used instead of conduit, that’s pipe.  Don’t get me wrong, PVC conduit pipe is not particularly difficult to install except the burying, but it requires a level above basic or simple.  

Hose is screw-on, like opening/closing a jar and doesn’t involve sticky purple stuff.  Even putting together the drip system doesn’t require the sticky purple stuff, but it’s a little more advanced than the screw together.  For a Drip Line, you are basically cutting lengths of hose to size and sticking them together with plastic pieces.  It doesn’t get much simpler than that.  The hard part comes in figuring out pressure and zones which isn’t an issue at all if you only need a few heads. Otherwise, it doesn’t have to be complicated.

Hose

Hose comes in many sizes, lengths, and durabilities.  It can be shaped easily to fit most spaces, although right angles can be a problem as it pinches the hose.  You can leave it where you pull it and step over it, run it along beds or bury it for a cleaner look, also if you have problems snagging it with the lawn mower.  That’s always bad.  However, if you bury it, you give up one of its best pros, it can easily be moved as your garden evolves.  I’m not going to lie, I dig up and rebury hose.  It’s the lawn mower.

A standard Garden hose is ⅝ inch.  Standard Drip Lines come in both ¼ and ½ inch.  The smaller the hose, the more pressure you have to push water through it.  That means you can put more Sprinkler Heads on it.  However, standard is standard, you’re not going to find too many heads outside the standards.  If you’re going to go that route, check your connections to make sure they are the same size.  You’ll need to get adapters if the sizes don’t match up.  Better to know that when you’re buying instead of standing in the yard trying to fit a square peg in a round hole.  Figuratively.  Technically, you’ll being swearing and kicking stuff trying to figure out why the 2 parts don’t screw together.  Mountains of irritation.     

Heavy Duty

We like to go with a heavy duty hose for the main irrigation lines, but we tend to have heavy traffic and extreme weather. Burying them tends to keep them out of both, but the heavy duty ones have fared well running along the beds.  We used the Giraffe Garden Hoses in 25, 50 and 100 foot lengths, depending on the run. These have been running in the garden for 4 years, and even exposed have almost no sign of wear.  

Sprinkler Heads & Garden Hoses

Okay, you buy a Garden Hose, screw it onto the outside faucet, unroll it to your spot to be watered, screw a Sprinkler Head to the end, stick the Sprinkler Head stake in the ground, point it at your plants, and turn on the faucet.  You’re irrigating.  You can either do one spot or connect a hose to the other end of your Sprinkler Head, and add sprinklers in a line to cover whole areas.  Seriously, they sell this stuff and the hose is usually the most expensive part.  I kicked myself for not doing it sooner.  

If you have an area that needs to be sprinkled, you’re going to want this type instead of the Drip Line which only waters planting holes or plant bases.  If you have large areas, puzzling together 50 or more Drip heads really isn’t the simplest option, but the system is up to you and your needs.      

Sprinkler Heads

Sprinkler heads come in all shapes and sizes, adjustable heads, water pressure, and they come in singles or sets.  It was a little overwhelming once I figured out these existed.  We have always had a sprinkler/hose combo for spot watering areas.  You know the big fan ones.  There were some winters it was like Alfred Hitcock’s classic ‘The Birds’ only with Robins all over everything under the spray, and in the yard.  Creepy.  It also wastes a ton of water.  It works, but I wanted something less wasteful and more precise, on a timer.  We’ve been using the Melnor Adjustable Spike Set Sprinkler Bundle for the last 4 years.  I keep buying more as I expand the beds. Yea! More beds.

I started with these because they came with hoses, but it must be said, the hoses are not heavy duty.  There are several discolored in the yard, but we have not had a problem with splitting, crumbling, or leaking.  Hoses have been severed in storms, but few things hold up to that. Even if the first ones died today, I probably got my money’s worth.

Adjust Your Spray

Check the spray radius on Sprinkler Heads.  Some only spray one direction and others are adjustable up to 360 degrees.  If you’re going to put them down the center of a bed, you probably don’t want the ones that only sprays in one direction.  You’ll want a 360 degree spray to hit all those little green babies.

The other thing to keep in mind is the bigger the spray, the more water pressure it needs to run effectively.  For example, if you have a 4 Sprinkler Head hose chain, the 1st 3 heads might spray full, but the 4th one will only dribble.  Being able to adjust the spray at the head will allow you to restrict the 1st 3 and force water out of the 4th, but you may not get the full spray the head advertises because you don’t have the pressure for 4 of them.  You’ll have to reduce the number of heads on that hose if you want the full spray.    

Our Garden

Our garden hose feels like it’s 1000 pounds, made of the heavy duty black stuff that’s like tires.  It even leaves those black smears on your skin.  Dragging it all over the acre garden is a chore.  But buying a new hose every 6 months to a year is also a drag.  Nothing else holds up.  I prefer to buy things with life spans in years.  We use Giraffe Garden Hose if you’re up for the heavy.  For watering, we needed something with a little more consistency than I could provide at the time dragging that thing around after a long day.

When I decided to set up an irrigation system, I went all in, as usual.  I rarely think small.  It’s one of my weird brain quirks.  And I wanted most of the garden watered.  That meant learning about water pressure and zones, because this thing needed to be on a timer.  Set up, check, and done.  Don’t freak out.  It’s not hard.

Water Pressure

First and foremost, if you want the science, you aren’t going to get it here.  Just the end results common use.  It isn’t that I haven’t read it.  HA!  Not my style.  It’s this is How to Set Up Simple Irrigation, and common use is simple.  Pounds per second are not.

If you’ve ever ran a garden hose, you know a ton about water pressure.  You turn on the facet, and depending on the pressure from your house, it should push the water out of the facet, through the hose and out the end.  If you restrict the end of the hose, like with your finger, it shoots out harder and faster.  Folding the hose cuts off the water and your hose gets plump and hard.  If you put a spray nozzle on it, it shoots out harder and faster in different spray patterns.  When something pokes a hole in the hose, less water comes out the end.  Water Pressure 101, Common Use.

Zones Demystified

Irrigation works in the mystical realm of Zones.  Relax, it just means you water in stages, one area at a time.  Zones are only necessary if you need more Sprinkler Heads than you have water pressure for in your hose.  If you only need to water a few sets of pots up next to the house, you probably don’t need to worry about Zones.  We can handle 4 or 5 Sprinkler Heads on a single hose, even splitting it. Meaning, we get about 8 to 10 per Zone with these, but everyone’s pressure will be a little different.

If you have several areas or areas far away from your facet, you probably will want to split your watering into Zones.  Dang.  It’s not hard, just a little planning.  I know, homework.  Think of your irrigation system like stringing lights.  Every light, a place where a Sprinkler Head goes.  The area it sprays, the light it sheds.  The hose the cord.  If you’re watering beds or pots, the layout starts to form itself.  Just a string of lights.  You then group these sets of lights into a couple or few per ‘outlet’ or in the case of irrigation zones.  Each of our Zones is split at the faucet into two hoses.  Each of these hoses have 3 to 5 Sprinkler Heads.  There are 4 Zones, and we are pretty much at capacity.       

Less is Better

Shorter hoses have more pressure, less distance to push water through.  So, the further you get away from your facet, the less pressure you have to work with, meaning less spray power.  Splitting the stream at the facet into two hoses will provide better pressure in both hoses than splitting it further away.  Running one hose to the furthest point with 2 or 3 Sprinkler Heads at the end will give you the best spray power further away.  

The fewer water escape points, also known as Sprinkler Heads, the greater the water pressure, or spray, out of each.  Having more Zones, hoses, with fewer heads on each will give you the most bang for your water pressure.  Adjusting how much water is coming out of the 1st Sprinkler Heads on a hose pushes more pressure to the further heads.  If you’re having problems, remove one of the Sprinkler Heads and pick it up in another Zone.

Splitting the Stream

Yup, they sell those too.  We have used many varieties of splitters over the years.  Currently, there are numerous VIVOSUN 2 Way Garden Hose Splitters dividing the irrigation that have been running for 4 years.   Unfortunately, they are only selling the 4-way at the moment. So, no link, sorry. I will tell you the best selling one on Amazon, the blue-green one, we tried. It fell apart almost immediately.

The VIVOSUN is in several places, splitting Zones.  We even have one at the facet in the front splitting the garden hose and timer.  Although this is risky as other members of your family might accidentally turn off the whole system instead of just the hose.  Just saying.  It happens.  The one in the back runs straight from the well that has several connections, no splitter necessary.       

From a personal standpoint, I have to say I find splitters extremely convenient.  They were such a small addition that completely eliminated the day-to-day trying to get the heavy hose on straight while I screw that puppy past the point it leaks.  Oh, and the splitting Zones thing was necessary for all the plants we wanted to get regular water on. If you aren’t going the Timer route, you can add a splitter at the faucet to hook in your zone hoses. That way, it’s a simple twist when you walk out to water. Everything is set and ready to go.

The Timer

Oh, the love affair with our Timers.  Have you ever wanted to stop focusing on the watering and pay all your attention to your plants?  I have.  It was a timing problem for me, growing more than the time I actually had to do it.  And coming home to dry brittle plants is lousy.  A Timer made Our Garden sing.  Whether you have a single Sprinkler Head or many Zones, putting your plants on a regular automatic watering schedule will elevate you as grower. 

I believe I mentioned we use the Orbit Complete Watering System previously.  It’s super durable, allows for 4 Zones, and is fully programmable from duration, times, zones, and days to 3 different schedules.  You wouldn’t know it from the big preschool toy dial, but durability is shaped like that. It requires the water to be turned on when it starts, so you have to leave it on, and it’s not a looker, but it runs beautifully and no separate housing is necessary.  Ours only came with 2 Zones, and we had to purchase 2 Additional Zones as we needed them.

Choose a System for You

When deciding on a Timer, make sure it fits what you need.  If you need 6 Zones or have special housing in your garage already set up for it, you probably will want to look for something else.  The goal is finding a Timer you can use.  If you can’t use it, it will not help make your garden happy.  There are some that might have the capabilities to program a starship, if you’re into that sort of thing.  Personally, I’m a bit iffy about putting something that looks like my phone on a post outside.  

Drip Irrigation Systems

My first attempt at irrigation came in the form of a boxed Drip Irrigation System Kit for the front walk.  We have small beds and pots along the walk with flowers.  The Heads boast a step-up from the standard drip with a little spray, and it’s small, light, and concentrated in a couple inch area.  

These are perfect for pots and/or a small line of planting holes, up to and including trees.  Medians in the middle of roads are often irrigated with a drip system until they get established.  In fact, lots of landscaping all over Florida is irrigated with simple small drip lines.  

The Basics

Traditionally, Drip Line Irrigation Systems are hoses that leak water.  Some are hooked into mainline irrigation and water systems.  This is a professional job and should not be tried at home.  Never gamble with your drinking water or pipes – no one wants to be without water, even during a fix.  

Drip Lines leak water either continually or when they are turned on, permeating a specific area of soil with water.  That’s wetting, not sprinkling.  So, if these are going to run in a Zone, they will have to run for much longer than a sprinkler to get the same amount of water, but the watered area will be much more precise.  What makes them a Drip Line is only a drip, not a steady stream, comes out.  It takes longer to get the same amount of water to the area.  All the water pressure and zone information from above applies.  

Our System

Ours was an irrigation system in a box.  I found that a few inches of main hose at the facet, with up to 3 main lines off it, gave us the best pressure. The good news is you can put about double the number of Sprinkler Heads on each of these compared to the Garden Hose system, even though the area watered will be much smaller.  Again, really great for many small plants.     

Figure Out the Lay-Out   

We used two irrigation lines off the mainline for each Zone.  Remember, think of it like string lights, 3 lights strands to an outlet, although the actual number will depend on the pressure coming out of your house.  We found 2 works well, but I could probably do 3 lines with 5 to 7 heads on each, depending on how long the hose gets.  

Make sure to group your furthest ‘water holes’ on one line attached to the mainline.  You want all your water going to the furthest points before there is an escape route.  Adding a sprinkler head near the facet will make all the water escape there first, and there won’t be enough left at the end of the line to water your plants.  Yeah, that pesky water pressure.

Connecting the System

The set uses a Threaded Faucet Connector for standard outside faucets, but it also includes a Universal Connector if you aren’t using the standard.  The Threaded one is screwed directly onto the faucet or your Timer connection, the Universal is clamped on.  This takes the spigot from the standard garden hose ⅝ inch to the ¼ inch needed for the Drip line hose.  Abracazam!

The Tubing Quick Connector attaches to the hose.  I cut a short length of hose, attached it to the top of a Barbed Tee, and inserted the other end into the unscrewed Tubing Quick Connector nut.  The end of the hose is inserted directly onto the little nub connection on the TQC that appears when you unscrew the nut.  Slide the nut back up and tighten the nut. Done.  

The whole top thick green part pushes down.  It does.  It’s just a little stiff.  Push it down, and slide the whole connection over the Facet Connector and release.  It’s important you keep it pushed down or it won’t connect.  Wiggle the connection.  If it stays on, you did it right.  You can then attach your lines to the Tee.  If you want 3 lines, instead of inserting the hose into the top of Tee at the end, insert it into the side and attach another length of hose.  You can use the top for a line and insert a Tee at the end for 2 more. 

Cut and Insert 

After deciding on my lay-out and making my faucet connection, I found the easiest way to install the hose was cutting a length of hose from the mainline Tee to my first ‘water hole’ where I wanted a head.  Do yourself a favor and cut some extra length in the hose from exactly where you want it.  There may be a reason to move it at some point, and you want to have enough hose to do it.  And yes, I made that mistake on my very 1st line.  You also might misjudge the length.  Yup, that one too.

You insert one of the plastic ‘Tees’ at the ‘water hole’ end of the hose length and measure your next length of line from there.  I went ahead and attached the next length of hose to the ‘Tee’ and unrolled the next amount, cutting it to size.  The instructions suggest rolling out the hose where you want it and cutting at the points where you want the sprinkler heads.  That works too, but that’s how I didn’t give myself enough hose, because I stopped thinking about it halfway down the row.  You can also attach the sprinkler heads as you go, but again, that’s how I shorted the hose.  I tend to be a little too precise.

Sprinkler Heads

The set comes with three types of sprinkler heads: Drip, Atomizer (mist) and what they call an Emitter which is a Drip on a stake.  Both the Drip and Emitter can be directly attached into a piece of hose, but the Atomizer is directly inserted onto either the Flat Tee or Single Barbed Coupling.  They just slide on.  So, you are going to want to know which head you are installing at which ‘water hole’ to know what Tee to use.  

For the Drip and Emitter, cut a piece of hose to length, where you want the sprinkler head (extra is better), and insert the sprinkler head directly into the piece of hose.  Then, the other end of the hose into the Tee top.

All the sprinkler heads will drip.  They are adjustable.  You simply restrict the water to be barely on.  The Drip and Emitter can be adjusted by opening it up all the way to a small sprinkle.  The Atomizer opens to a mist.  The heads, Tees and connectors can be pulled off at any time and exchanged based on the plant you have in the ‘water hole’ at the time.  We don’t tend to have much use for the Atomizers although a misting system out in the pool lounge area keeps popping in my head.  It gets hot out there in the summer.

Maintenance

Yes, you are going to have to check your Hoses and Sprinkler Heads.  We get both hard water, mineral, build up and algae.  Yea.  A good cleaning at least once a year is going to be required.  Or you could just let things slide and replace them.  Not our style, but the Sprinkler Heads are not that expensive.  Just saying.

We also regularly check hoses and spray patterns.  Every head in Our Garden is adjusted to specifically cover an area.  Critters, dogs, people, weather, and a whole cornucopia of other outside agitators can hit your heads and knock them out of whack.  If I notice a ‘dry’ area, I usually run a by-pass for a couple of minutes and check everything.  

Otherwise, I take a walk around every couple of weeks while they are running and make adjustments.  We have wandering curious dogs and need to check more often.  Sticking them up on short posts helps keep them in place and can help with greenery trying to take them over.  You’ll be surprised at how much you have to trim around the heads.  They can also be hung, stuck in trees, and inverted. Don’t let your design be limited to the ground. Make the system work for you. You’ll have less maintenance if they are out of the way.

Successful Watering

If you want to elevate your success as a grower, adding regular consistent watering does wonders.  One you have to think about much less, even better.  Buy a hose and sprinkler if it works for you.  Place it in an area and turn it on when you get home.  After it’s ran for a bit, turn it off and move it to another location to run tomorrow when you get home.  Repeat.  You can water up to 7 areas a week or 3 areas twice for about 7 minutes a day of your time.  However, if you want something more, like to spend those 7 minutes picking tomatoes off your plants instead, a Simple Irrigation System does wonders.  Happy Watering!