Drip irrigation or Soaker hose?

taxsaver

Hi everyone,

I've just finished constructing and filling 12 new raised beds, each 4' x 8' and am now just about ready to start planting them.

However, in order to conserve water, not to mention conserving my own effort and ensuring everything doesn't die whenever I might be away for a few days, I want to install some form or automatic irrigation into them all.

I'm not made of money, so of course I will wish to minimise costs but am very happy with fairly complex DIY and don't mind investing in something that will last well.

I'm currently torn between soaker/seeper hoses or drip irrigation systems. I'm probably leaning toward soaker hoses, placed in the ground (probably just within the top 4" or so), but some sources I've sourced seem to suggest these might only last a short time before failing, whereas drip systems might have a longer life.

So, I thought this would be a great place to illicit views from the many experts that 'live' here and from those who have walked this particular path before.

So, what would YOU do and why?

Thanks in advance, everyone.

alanobrien

I have had soaker hoses in the ground for over 10 years they water the whole garden border and they are still working fine. They are a great time saver. I do use drip irrigation via a self contained reservoir in the greenhouse though.

Davesnave

It's possible that soaker hose might have a shorter life in hard water areas, just as the much larger holes in shower heads soon block and need descaling. Didn't try it for that reason.

Drip and spray systems still suffer in this respect too, over time, but the point of delivery is relatively easy to clean.

I found sprays easier to gauge on a timer and wider reaching than drips, but also prone to being moved by little fingers, cats, dogs etc.

I_have_spoken

I'd go for drip as you can adjust the amount of water. Much cheaper online than in garden centres.

That said, that number of raised beds will be a challenge as the water pressure will drop along the length of any pipe.

taxsaver

Thanks for the answers. I've decided to mostly go for soaker hoses and hope that hard water isn't an issue.... I think being buried it should be less problematic as it will hopefully never dry out so the minerals should mostly stay in solution.

I'm going to also try some drip systems in a couple of places.

In due course I will try to update this post with my experience in case it helps others.

JP08

The pressure drop is an issue - you can't just cascade one soaker pipe off the end of another. There simply isn't the pressure left for the second pipe to operate over it's whole length.

What you can do put a T piece at the start of your first soaker, run the soaker off the first branch of the T, and a solid pipe off the second branch to where you want your second soaker to start. That way the pressure is maintained. Ok there will be a small drop over the solid pipe length, but not enough to worry about.

Joining pipes is fun. Our little system runs off one of those little Hoselock timers (the pressure limiting thingy removed to get the flow rate to drive two soakers plus several drip irrigators) running into a black plastic garden water pipe which then connects to copper pipe to run round the house via a standard brass compression joint. Copper pipe came from a plumbing job that never happened in the previous house, and looks less unsightly running round the house than the black pipe which tends to sag between clips.
Short section on the back of the house of black pipe (brass compression joints again) to put in sprinkler feeds to baskets, then copper again to the flower bed.
Then a brass compression T piece, tiny length of black pipe to a hose join, then the 1st soaker hose. Second joint of T to black pipe, to another T (second exit blocked, allows for extending further), tiny black pipe again to hose join and second soaker.

Compression joints and standard black pvc(?) garden pipe, not hose pipe) works absolutely fine, as do some plumbing push-fit fittings, and don't blow apart under full mains pressure, unlike the little black plastic joining bits you get with the irrigation kits.

Primrose

We biught a soaker hose for our vegetable plot one dry year when a hosepipe ban was in progress and we weren't allowed to use our normal irrigation system. After two weeks it proved hopeless and it didn,t really moisten the soil eniugh to make any difference and we took it up, cleaned it, took it back and got a refund.
We are back using our spray irrigation system which is much more efficient. The only drawback is that we are in a heavy limestone area and by the end of each season the tiny little spray nozzles get clogged up with limescale and the spray can sometimes reduce to a trickle. The solution is to remove the spray nozzles at the end of each season, soak in vinegar for a few days and store them safely , putting them back in their holes in the hosepipe in spring

Watering beds is a problem if you are away a lot. A generous amount of water retention crystals dug into your beds or patio pots n spring will help. The remain effective for most for a growing syatem.