Drip Lines?

[FALaholic]

Wanted to ask those that have done drip lines a few questions.
Are items such as backflow device, filter, and pressure regulator necessary.

 

[DonH]

Wanted to ask those that have done drip lines a few questions.
Are items such as backflow device, filter, and pressure regulator necessary.

My question with drip lines is are they necessary? I only had to water twice all season this year. If you're in south Florida, wouldn't rainfall be enough? I guess maybe with the summer heat not, but... Overwatering is more of a problem for tobacco than underwatering. But people say drip lines work great.

 

[Brown Thumb]

I put in Drip Lines the last two years in a row and never used them other then when first transplanting. I wont do it anymore.
Backflow device not need, Filter and pressure regulator are needed. Filter, you do not want crap plugging up your drip holes and Pressure Regulator to decrease pressure so you do not blow out the drip holes. Trust me I know.

 

[johnlee1933]

I put in Drip Lines the last two years in a row and never used them other then when first transplanting. I wont do it anymore.
Backflow device not need, Filter and pressure regulator are needed. Filter, you do not want crap plugging up your drip holes and Pressure Regulator to decrease pressure so you do not blow out the drip holes. Trust me I know.

Like BT I used them for the first two years when I was starting my patch. I haven't used or needed them since and threw them away.

John

 

[Knucklehead]

I used them this year and will use them again next year. My patch is too far away to carry water. Turning the faucet on after transplant is wonderful. Having them already there in case of draught is a plus. It would be a major PITA to install them after the plants are up. I used self regulating pressure compensating emitters so I just cracked the faucet about half open, no regulator.
These are the emitters (Half gallon per hour is what I used) : http://www.dripworks.com/product/Q_DOV

I also bought the drip lines, end plugs and hose ends from the same place. I think I had less than $90.00 per 100' run (50 plants). This price will be prorated over the several years that you can use the lines. (If you use them 5 years, that's $18.00 per year per 50 plants). After the first year, pull them up and reuse them the next year, with the emitters already installed from the first year. I spaced my emitters at 2' and then put a plant under each one. Next year will be even easier with the emitters already spaced and installed. They're good insurance. I put them on top of my landscape cloth for ease of installation and removal.

 

[bonehead]

driplines are great if you grow anything in five gallon buckets. some drip setups can even meter out fertilizer. i have a low section of yard thats prone to flood and can't be used for much except for bucket growing on pallets that i get for free at a factory. you have to water every few days when it's dry but only a little and once it drains from the bottom of the bucket it's good. i wouldn't want to hand water around fifty buckets.

 

[Brown Thumb]

Drip lines and Drip tape is kinda confusing.
As I understand it Drip line is where you install the emitters where you want them.
I use drip tape which has the emitters installed into the plastic tubing and you order by distance of emitters , flow , ect.
Correct me if wrong.

 

[bonehead]

Drip lines and Drip tape is kinda confusing.
As I understand it Drip line is where you install the emitters where you want them.
I use drip tape which has the emitters installed into the plastic tubing and you order by distance of emitters , flow , ect.
Correct me if wrong.

the only kind i use you set them the distances you want. i used a soaker hose before but i dont like watering weeds.

 

[Brown Thumb]

Drip tape , Soaker hose is Another name for them. Yes there a pita but the are made to go under plastic.
I bought my drip tape and it was called drip line . I knew what I was buying.

 

[Boboro]

I use the nyilon They work well and last a few years. I like the drip line butjust to much crap to put together.

 

[Knucklehead]

What I needed this year was a hole with a sump pump in it. you never know.

 

[Brown Thumb]

What I needed this year was a hole with a sump pump in it. you never know.

And I thought it was Rain Dancers

 

[Chicken]

i watered very rarelly this year,

us floridians are lucky in a way,,, we have random showers form from fronts coming inland,

ive used dripline before, but never on tobaccoo. i think its a plant that would respond to overhead watering better, than root delivery.

next years grow, i plan on having a massive overhead system in place,

 

[Ben Brand]

Used drip irrigation for commercial tobacco crops in the past and use them in my little cigar tobacco patch, planted commercial crop under center pivot as well. The results was much better with the drip. Better quality- the fundis said the center pivot washes away some of the tobacco oils. Better weed control- in SA with its dry seasons the dippers only wet below the plant and the weeds in the rows don`t grow as fast as with a center pivot. I agree the filter is a necessary otherwise the dippers will block and to unblock them is a big pain in the a@#$!!! I wont plant any other way. Good luck.
Ben

 

[Jack in NB]

My patch has had drip tape along each of my 4 rows for the past 5 years or so, under black plastic weed barrier. The same lines have been in use from the first, rolled up for winter storage, and replaced each spring. This year was the first with no watering needed.

No filter, no fancy regulator. Fed from a 100 ft hose from the house water supply, it doesn't need filtering. I can run only one length (row) at a time because of the flow restriction in the garden hose feed line.

Pressure is regulated by a 1/2" gate valve at the inlet to each line. I open the valve when starting up - for faster fill-up - and when the tape fills and hardens I close the valve rather quickly (to prevent bursting) and adjust the valve until I can squeeze the tape about 1/3 to 1/2 closed with my fingers. Don't know the pressure, but water delivery is satisfactory, and no bursting problems.

With the tape I have (delivery rates vary depending on the type), I leave it on for an hour and a half. That wets the earth down 4" or so - a good drink.

It's been proven a satisfactory - and CHEAP! - setup.

 

[Chicken]

ive looked into this drip-tape,

i have acess to it, all i got to do is lay it,

ive used it in the past, and have spun the idea, of making a dripline, or a sprinkler system.??

 

[Knucklehead]

ive looked into this drip-tape,

i have acess to it, all i got to do is lay it,

ive used it in the past, and have spun the idea, of making a dripline, or a sprinkler system.??

I like the drip line with the emitters that you put where you need them. I spaced mine two feet apart and put a plant under each emitter. They put out 1/2 gal. per hour and put the water right on the roots of each plant. No wasted water and you're not watering grass and weeds. The first year is the only time you have to install the emitters, after that you just roll out the line. If you want three feet between plants, just space the emitters at three feet. Or two, or four. I spaced my seed grow out plants and emitters at sixteen inches and got 75 plants per 100' of drip line. For leaf production I spaced them at two feet and got 50 plants per 100' of drip line.

 

[springheal]

Agree with Knucks. Sprinklers throw the water everywhere which just encourages everything to grow, weeds and all.

Some people may be on metered water (pay for what you use), so the drip line system waters only where you need it and no wasted water.

Chicken, your overhead watering idea may not be such a good idea and may affect the leaf. I never water tomato plants overhead (can cause disease) and consider tobacco the same.

Correct me if I'm wrong but I think it's a no brainer as plants take the water from the roots and supply the plants/leaves.