Drip Irrigation Move - Part 1

I moved my Drip Irrigation System this weekend.

Previously, I had hooked my Drip Irrigation System to the outdoor faucet in my backyard. I only have one faucet in my backyard, so I had installed a 4-way water distributor (see picture to the right) to the faucet. This allowed me to connect the Drip Irrigation System and still get water from the faucet for other purposes.

Unfortunately, the 4-way water distributor started leaking pretty badly. I did not want to buy another one because it was somewhat expensive (over $20) and only lasted 2 years.

However, without the water distributor, I would have to go inside the house to get water everytime I needed it.

There was a sprinkler system installed in part of my backyard that I was not using. Drip Irrigation is much more efficient way to distribute water to plants than sprinklers, so I had deactivated the sprinkler and put in drip irrigation to water in that area of the backyard.

Fortunately, the sprinkler system still worked, so I decided to move my Drip Irrigation system to take adavantage of the sprinkler system.

The backyard sprinkler system only had 2 sprinklers attached to it. One of the sprinklers would be used for the Drip Irrigation System. The other sprinkler had to be capped off so that the water would not come out when when the Drip Irrigation System was activated.

I unscrewed the unneeded sprinkler. There was a short (2") plastic riser that attached the sprinkler to the PVC pipe. I removed riser and replaced it with a longer (6" riser) and put a cap on top of the new riser. I wanted the cap near soil level so that I would always know where the PVC pipe ended, in case I wanted to put the sprinkler back in.

I did the same thing at the other sprinkler. Only this time, I attached a 2' plastic riser at the end of the PVC pipe (see figure at the left). I needed the extra length to provide enough room for the Drip Irrigation system.

The sprinkler system used 1/2" PVC pipe, so I used a 1/2" diameter riser.

The Drip Irrigation System attaches to a faucet, so I had to use a PVC riser to Faucet converter.

The picture to the left shows the converter attached to the plastic riser. The converter has the added benefit of being a right angles to the plastic riser.

I have two Drip Irrigation zones. One zone is for my container plants. The other zone is for my Raised Bed plants.

The plants in the container do not require as much water as the plants in the Raised Bed, so creating seperate zones allows me to tailor the watering for each type.

I use a Y-hose adapter to create two faucet connections. The picture to the left shows the Y-hose adapter connected to the plastic riser to faucet converter. Without the Y-hose adapter, I could only connect one Drip Irrigation zone to the water outlet

Drip Irrigation Move - Part 2

Drip Irrigation Move - Part 2

The first part of the Drip Irrigation System is the Backflow Preventer.

The backflow preventer (see picture to the right) makes sure that dirty water does not flow back into the PVC pipes and contaminate the water system.

The picture to the right shows the Backflow Preventer connected to the Y-hose adapter. I need one Backflow Preventer for each Drip Irrigation system.

The timer is used to turn on the Drip Irrigation System at the correct time. It controls the duration, the frequency (how many times during the day), and when to turn on the Drip Irrigation System.

The timer is battery operated using a 9-volt battery. I change the battery once a year.

However, since the Drip Irrigation system is now connected to the my Sprinkler system, I have to also turn on the Sprinkler system in order for water to flow.

The picture to the right shows the Filter and the Pressure Regulator.

The Filter prevents any debris in the water system from getting into the Drip Irrigation system and clogging up the drip emitters.

The Pressure Regulator makes sure the water pressure is low enough so that water does not come out too fast from the drip emitters.

The picture to the right shows the pieces of the Drip Irrigation system connected to together. There is one set for each Drip Irrigation zone.

I set the timers so that the two Drip Irrigation zones run at different times. Otherwise, the water pressure is too low, as the water come from the PVC pipes would have to be divided in half.

The last part of the Drip Irrigation system is the Drip Tubing adapter. This connects the Drip Tubing to the Pressure Regulator.

Drip Irrigation Move - Part 1

Building a Strawberry Tower - Adding the Drip Irrigation Line

I am using Drip Irrigation to water the Strawberry plants in the Strawberry Tower.

I use 1/4" tubing to bring the water in from my main drip irrigation line. The water tray creates a moat to prevent ants from entering the Strawberry Tower. I did not want the ants to use the 1/4" tubing to bypass the moat, so I wrapped the 1/4" tubing around the base of the 20" container around the water tray. (see picture to the right)

I also created a 1/4" drainage hole near the side bottom of the water tray. This is to prevent water to build up in the water tray and enable mosquitoes to breed. The water would not be able to evaporate quickly enough otherwise and I would have a big mosquito problem later on.

I fed a 1/4" drip irrigation tube through the hole. The other end of tube drains the water into an adjacent fruit tree. Since the tree sits at a lower elevation than the water tray, the water drains via gravity.

After circling the container via the moat of water, I bring the drip irrigation tubing up the outside of the Strawberry Tower.

I chose to go hook up the drip irrigation on the outside of the Strawberry instead of going through the middle via the 1" PVC pipe.

The problem with using the PVC pipe is that there is no easy way to get the 1/4" into the PVC pipe. The bottom of the PVC pipe rests on the water tray. I could try to elevate the 20" container on top of the water tray and slide the 1/4" tubing throught the opening on the bottom. However, elevating the 20" container creates a stability problem and the whole thing could tip over.

At the edge of each pocket in the bucket is a 1/4" hole that is perfect for sliding the drip tubing through (see picture to the right)

I use 6 drip emitters at the top layer of the Strawberry Tower to water the whole thing. Each drip emitter releases 1 gallon per hour.

I arrange 1 drip emmitter for each pocket of the bucket on the top layer (see picture to the right).

I originally planned to put drip emitters at the lower levels, but I found that I did not need to.

The Strawberry Tower does a good job of distributing the water evenly to the lower levels.

The holes at the bottom bucket are spaced evenly and the Miracle Gro Moisture Control Potting Mix prevents the water from draining too quickly to the next level.

I water the Strawberry Tower every day for 40 minutes. This is sufficient to keep the potting mix moist. When Summer comes, I will increase the duration of the watering

Links to more of my Strawberry Tower Blog Entries:

Building a Strawberry Tower - Intro

Building A Strawberry Tower - Choosing Strawberry Plans

Building A Strawberry Tower - Gathering Materials

Building A Strawberry Tower - Prep Work

Building A Strawberry Tower - Soil Less Potting Mix

Building A Strawberry Tower - Anchoring the Tower

Building A Strawberry Tower - Adding the Drip Irrigation Line

Strawberry Plants 2 weeks After Planting

Adding Mulch to the Strawberry Plants

Pinching Strawberry Flowers

Strawberry Plants 6 weeks After Planting

First Strawberries Forming

First Strawberries

Why No Strawberry Flowers

Strawberry Flowers

Second Batch of Strawberries

Pruning Strawberry Plants

Fall Strawberries

Strawberry Plants Are Multiplying

Preparing Strawberry Tower for Winter

Strawberry Tower - Year 2