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Crakkerjakk posted:drip irrigation Is there a thread-approved Drip Irrigation guide? I've got a system (earlier version of this) that I've tried out over a couple of years. The first year I just used mini sprinklers but thought I should go more involved. The second year I tried soaker hose but couldn't really get the watering rate right (tomatoes needed more, herbs needed less etc). This year I'm going back to the sprinklers but thought best to seek advice... then I realised I had never really found the best guide on the matter. Rooted Vegetable fucked around with this message at 22:33 on May 1, 2019 |
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May 1, 2019 22:29
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quote != reply  sorry
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May 1, 2019 22:33
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Crakkerjakk posted:Pucker Butt Pepper Company. They're sold out. I think Pepper Joe has some. If the poster asking can't find any I think I've got some Foodarama Scotch Bonnet seeds you can have. Edit: Pucker Butt does have some Foodarama, I got that wrong.
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May 1, 2019 22:55
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About how many seeds per pack for Pucker Butt? I almost ordered a few, but I didn’t need them. Just wondering if it’ll be 10/pack or better than that.
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May 1, 2019 23:19
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Heners_UK posted:Is there a thread-approved Drip Irrigation guide? I've got a system (earlier version of this) that I've tried out over a couple of years. The first year I just used mini sprinklers but thought I should go more involved. The second year I tried soaker hose but couldn't really get the watering rate right (tomatoes needed more, herbs needed less etc). This year I'm going back to the sprinklers but thought best to seek advice... then I realised I had never really found the best guide on the matter. Have you thought about going for a full "proper" drip system with emitters, etc? Something like this http://store.rainbird.com/grdnerkts-gardener-s-drip-kit.html Or this https://www.dripdepot.com/product/deluxe-drip-irrigation-kit-for-vegetable-gardens The lines are regulated to run at a fixed, low pressure (like 10psi) and you can swap out variable rate emitters for different plants if you want.
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May 2, 2019 00:05
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Oh I've got a regulator, and ½in main pipe with ¼in tubes coming off it to the accessories. Tons of eBay ordered plastic bits as well
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May 2, 2019 01:18
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Heners_UK posted:Oh I've got a regulator, and ½in main pipe with ¼in tubes coming off it to the accessories. Tons of eBay ordered plastic bits as well Ahh ok, I didn't click the link when you said "mini sprinklers" -- I thought they were the micro spray nozzles. Anyways, I don't have any specific advice, this sort of thing is on my to-do list for the summer as well. In general try and keep the GPH down each branch roughy even and avoid lots of unions and turns which will cause pressure drop, but with a low pressure regulator you should have plenty of headroom. I don't know if there are any major limits for a drip system, aside from total longest run length. Probably tend towards branching rather than running a single long line where you can.
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May 2, 2019 01:52
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Really the trick is to get a multi-zone timer and just put all the stuff that needs more water on one zone, and water that zone longer, IMO. Even better than that... Well, I'm not sure if it's better. But option 1 is plant high water usage crops in the ground and water under mulch, option 2 is plant in a sub irrigated planter that automatically supplies water from below from a reservoir as the soil in the planter dries out. I feel like the second is a better way to make sure it gets a constant amount of water, but generally planting in the ground tends to be better than planters. We'll, option three is plant in the ground using ollas (unfired clay pots). I was eying the $0.50 4" flower pots from home Depot, glue two together lip to lip, then seal the bottom drainage hole and run 1/4" line to the top from a reservoir, then bury it next to the higher water usage plants. Same idea as the SIP, water seeps through the clay sides when the soul outside is dry, when it's wet water stays inside the olla. Best of both worlds, seems like.
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May 2, 2019 02:05
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 What the hell did I do to my poor chocolate pepper plant? I recently transported them from a 6 cell seed pack to this larger cardboard type pot to let it grow more before moving outside eventually. It was healthy as could be and then about a day after moving it it looked wilted and dry so I watered it, now it looks like this. I feel like I am overwatering my seeds but keep going between under and over watering. I've been bottom watering, leaving water in for about 30 minutes and then draining the excess. Is that just to much for pepper plants? They share the same tray with tomatoes and some other plants. Should I invest in another tray and light and keep them separate? Not sure how much it matters but this plant was sitting on a warming pad set to 70 F.
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May 2, 2019 15:02
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That looks dehydrated. Take it off the warming mat and give it a lot of water. I water from the bottom too, but I very much make sure it's wet when it's still on the heat mat. It dries it out fast. Just give them a bunch of water right away and watch most of them just rebound (unless it's been a while in which case you may need to start new ones).
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May 2, 2019 15:05
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Jhet posted:That looks dehydrated. Take it off the warming mat and give it a lot of water. I water from the bottom too, but I very much make sure it's wet when it's still on the heat mat. It dries it out fast. Just give them a bunch of water right away and watch most of them just rebound (unless it's been a while in which case you may need to start new ones). I swear I'm always either over watering or not watering enough. Thanks for the advice, ill try and revive these guys or start again. The cardboard type pots must dry out a lot faster than the plastic 6 cell trays.
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May 2, 2019 15:25
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I always water (just completely saturate the soil) after a transplant. And I move it to a shaded spot for a day if it was a rough transplant. In addition to being more porous, that new container you have it in puts it closer to the hot light.
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May 2, 2019 15:35
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BaseballPCHiker posted:I swear I'm always either over watering or not watering enough. Word. The only way anything gets to maturity in my yard is on an automatic timer or a self-regulating reservoir.
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May 2, 2019 16:35
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BaseballPCHiker posted:The cardboard type pots must dry out a lot faster than the plastic 6 cell trays. They do. While you're reviving this plant it might be worthwhile giving the whole pot a ten minute soak in a bucket of water - enough to make sure the pot is saturated while the pepper is recovering. Do this too just before you transplant outside.
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May 2, 2019 17:57
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The cardboard pots wick water from the soil super fast, especially over a heat source. Like everyone else said, water it pretty heftily and let the pot get damp, then water until the soil is damp enough.
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May 2, 2019 19:40
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I clearly don't get how to harden off seedlings, been taking them out for gradually increasing exposure for a week and a half then planted the strongest looking ones. Most of them have either died or do not look good, leaves are not uniformly green so I assume they're yellowing. I have duplicates of everything still indoors and planted some seeds outside just in case but the things I started outside all look way happier and healthier.
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May 2, 2019 22:52
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Grand Fromage posted:I clearly don't get how to harden off seedlings, been taking them out for gradually increasing exposure for a week and a half then planted the strongest looking ones. Most of them have either died or do not look good, leaves are not uniformly green so I assume they're yellowing. I have duplicates of everything still indoors and planted some seeds outside just in case but the things I started outside all look way happier and healthier. How are you hardening them off? One thing I've seen that I am about to try for myself the first time this year is to take a clear plastic rubbermaid, put your plants on the lid, the lid on the ground, and the container over them as sort of a mini greenhouse. I've heard people have good results with this, and when I say people I mean that Rusted Gardner guy that I've gotten 1/2 of my advice from as a newbie.
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May 3, 2019 00:26
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I had them out on the front porch for a few days out of any direct sunlight, then out with no roof on cloudy days, then I was leaving them out all day. Mostly been cloudy here but they've had at least a decent day's worth of sun.
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May 3, 2019 00:29
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Be easier to call with pictures.
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May 3, 2019 01:47
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Grand Fromage posted:I had them out on the front porch for a few days out of any direct sunlight, then out with no roof on cloudy days, then I was leaving them out all day. Mostly been cloudy here but they've had at least a decent day's worth of sun. What kind of soil are you transplanting them into?
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May 3, 2019 01:52
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Exactly the same thing they're planted in the seedling trays. Mix of vermiculite/peat/assorted composts.
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May 3, 2019 01:58
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We found a dog kennel/cage off a buy nothing group and we’re keeping all of our starters in it. The squirrels have really been stepping up their digging which has been very frustrating. We’ve also deployed some netting but we only had the very end of the roll so we’re using the deck furniture and keeping the plants tucked under the net. Slugs haven’t been as big a problem the bait seems to be working. It’s also been a lot drier and I’m trying to keep the grass shorter. The new problem has been aphids on the lettuces but they’re starting to look better after we deployed some ladybugs. It’s always something different but the starters are starting to look healthier and better acclimated to the outside. Eggplants still growing really slowly, hopefully the warmth will kick them into gear.
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May 3, 2019 05:04
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Heners_UK posted:Is there a thread-approved Drip Irrigation guide? I've got a system (earlier version of this) that I've tried out over a couple of years. The first year I just used mini sprinklers but thought I should go more involved. The second year I tried soaker hose but couldn't really get the watering rate right (tomatoes needed more, herbs needed less etc). This year I'm going back to the sprinklers but thought best to seek advice... then I realised I had never really found the best guide on the matter. Not sure about the best guide - I used Lee Valley's guides and instructions when we were progressing from drilled pvc pipes and simple soaker hoses to more complex systems. We tried several different soaker hoses with indifferent results. I think our raw unchlorinated well water might allow a biofilm to form that clogs the weeping type of soaker hoses and kills them young. Eventually I found an irrigation shop that caters to landscapers, nurseries, and farmers with clerks I can talk to when I run into problems. The shop charges a couple of bucks more for a roll of 1/2" feeder line than the big box stores but everything else is cheaper and in individual bins so you can try out a single weird emitter before you commit to a package. The stuff they sell tends to be standardized and compatible so you don't have the joy of discovering that certain manufacturer's 1/2" connectors aren't compatible with other manufacturer's 1/2" hose. (I'm not bitter, honest!) Our main feeder lines are Star line 1/2" black poly. It's a good compromise between being light enough for easy emitter insertion and heavy enough for shallow (6") burial. To water our raised beds we've run Star line from the distribution manifold to an individual 4' wide permanent raised bed where it feeds two runs of 1/2" DuraFlow pressure compensated drip line. There's as much as 3' difference in elevation between parts of our garden which when combined with the pressure fluctuations of our well pump is enough to starve non-compensated drip lines in the higher areas. The DuraFlow is the brown line in the picture below. You can see the rectangular outline behind the lower left hole which is the moulded hard plastic and membrane widget that does the compensating magic.  DuraFlow is more expensive than the flat drip tape that some kits contain. Drip tape as used industrially is disposable after one crop. As we were moving to no-dig I decided to go with the heavier and more expensive DuraFlow, hoping to only cry once. The price of Duraflow has jumped significantly this year so if I need to expand any more beds I might try some regular drip tape and see how well it lasts undisturbed under mulch. This video is kind of  My garden tractor is just a lawn mower on steroids but it could still pull off something like this if I didn't mind tilling plastic into my garden every year.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2vUKbmZQHU View of the feeder line and DuraFlow being tested in the new squash bed. The valves are to make life easier draining the system before first frost and blowing out possible contamination if lines are opened for repair or modification. Pressure is low enough that you don't really need the valve, you can just fold the line back on itself and cinch it tight enough to seal with a zap strap or twist tie. After the first winterization I bought and installed the valves. I'm lazy. The rocks are holding things down while I run out and buy more ground staples. Ground staples are u-shaped wire pins that go over the line and in it to the ground. After a few heating/cooling cycles the DuraFlow will snake its way out of the mulch so you need the pins or rocks or whatever to keep it buried and protected from the sun.  In our sandy soil buried drip lines do a lousy job of keeping the top of the soil moist enough to germinate seeds in summer or a dry spring. For a 4'x10' bed a couple of these misting emitters on 1/4" spaghetti tubing gets the seeds enough moisture to get going. The spaghetti tubing is attached to a micro valve punched into the Star line feed at the head of the bed. When the seedling are big enough to not need the misters any more the microvalve is closed and the tubing removed. The valve just visible in the upper left allows me to isolate this bed for things like onions, garlic, or legumes that need to dry out before harvest.   For watering trees and bushes I've run a Star line feeder and either punch emitters directly into the feeder or use a piece of 1/4" spaghetti tubing to get the emitter to where it needs to be. Fortunately we planted our orchard trees in straight lines so it was relatively easy to run the feeder line. Not sure what brand these drip emitters are but they've become our main workhorses. They come in 2, 4, and 8 liter per hour flavours. Sizing for a newly planted bush is a matter of guesswork followed by monitoring the bush and soil carefully during dry periods. Oddly enough, two 8 liter drippers run for an hour and a half a day keep our semi-dwarf cherries noticeably happier in the summer. Doesn't seem like it would be enough but    Drip irrigation is another form of Lego for adults. There are all sorts of specialized emitters for interesting problems. For watering a 10' strip on a regular 2' wide garden bed we have bow tie emitters. I have two of these on a chip bed under the blackberries that hopefully will be producing Stropharia (Garden Giant) mushrooms later this fall. Or not. I don't have a very good record in mushroom culture so far.  To water the hanging baskets at the front of the house I ran spaghetti tubing up an arbor, under the eaves, and t-d off to an emitter in each basket. These emitters are adjustable so I can tune them to have the basket just barely dripping by the time the other plants on the circuit have received enough water. These emitters need to be monitored though. Like the DuraFlow they flex with heating and cooling and can work themselves closed at which point you find yourself with a drooping basket.  Goof plugs are an essential part of the system. These allow you to seal a hole when you change your mind about the location of an emitter. Occassionally a plug won't seal properly but most of the time they're quite effective. If you have any geek tendencies I recommend buying a big package up front.  My tool kit from a couple of days ago putting in an extension covering a line of Sea Buckthorn I just planted. The thermos holds hot water. The connectors are all stab fittings and go together a lot easier if the end of the tubing is dipped into hot water for a few seconds. There are three different hole punches in the tray. Two of them are glorified sharpened nails and work o.k. most of the time but sometimes will punch a ragged hole that doesn't seal properly. The third punch is hollow and removes a little donut hole of plastic. This works much better when it works. Unfortunately the donut hole tends to get jammed in the punch and renders it as effective as a sharpened nail. I need to quit being cheap and buy a better quality punch.  This is the distribution manifold at one end of the garden. No automatic timers (yet). My schedule allows me to set some valves a couple of times a day without needing the automation. Some day this mess will be inside a shed, but that day is not today.  Water supply comes up from the right. There's a buried shutoff valve and a connection that allows me to blow out the system with compressed air in the fall. I'm not sure how necessary that is in our relatively mild climate. I could probably get away with just gravity draining the system. Moving left, after the elbow is a non-return valve. This is necessary if to avoid the risk of contaminating your water supply if you are injecting fertilizer into your irrigation system (a.k.a. "fertigation"). Next is a regular garden hose bib, then the main shutoff valve. The rectangular loop of pipe is for a Mazzei (venturi) fertilizer injector. The Mazzei is not cheap so I don't leave it connected out in the weather unless it's in active use during growing season. I'm still not sure it was a good idea for organic growing. Anything injectable needs to be completely water soluble so the most effective fertilizers are non-organic. Regular fish fertilizer dissolves well but leaves an oily coating inside the lines and left me worrying about how the fish oil would affect the membrane inside the DuraFlow emitters. I tried a soluble form of fish fertilizer but it turned out that marketers have different definitions of soluble than I do. There was a fine residue of particulate matter that plugged the filter protecting the drip lines in short order. Better than plugging the emitters, but annoying none the less. The section at the top of the injector loop unscrews so the injector can be installed. The vinyl tube and strainer goes into a bucket of fertilizer solution and two valves are adjusted to get the right flow into the system. Come back in an hour when the bucket is empty. Nice system if I could find something to inject with it.  Moving along the manifold from the injector loop the next widget is a filter. This type is reasonably cheap and a lot more reliable than the smaller T filters I see in the kits. I had a couple of those fall apart on me before I bought this one.  Following the filter are two valves controlling flow to the DuraFlow in the garden beds. DuraFlow operates quite happily at the 40-50 p.s.i. our well pump puts out. After these two valves is a capped T in case I want to put in another unregulated circuit, then the pressure regulator that drops the pressure down to the 25 p.si. that the rest of the system works best at.  Before I put this new system in three years ago I carefully calculated flow rates and volumes for each circuit before I installed it. After installation I discovered that the customer service rep had supplied the wrong flow rate on a critical piece of the system, rendering my calculations null and void. Now I wing it, patching in new stuff, keeping an eye on emitter flow and putting in new circuits if performance drops. I'm much happier now. Hexigrammus fucked around with this message at 09:43 on May 3, 2019 |
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May 3, 2019 09:34
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I'm taking up vegetable growing as a complete beginner for the first time this year. I'm renting so I don't really want to dig up the garden lawn, thus everything is being grown in pots. We had some warm weather early this year (southern England) so I sowed into trays directly outside and had lots of very successful germinations. I've now transplanted everything into bigger pots, it all seems happy and I'm feeling good about it. My worry now is pests. Currently everything is exposed with no protection. What sorts of things do I need to worry about and what steps can I take? I have already had some of my carrot seedlings dug up and left lying on top of the soil - not sure of the culprit but I suspect squirrels. I'm also aware that slugs and birds are potential enemies but beyond that I'm not really sure what to expect. Does anyone have any tips for a beginner?
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May 3, 2019 10:52
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Captain Mediocre posted:I'm taking up vegetable growing as a complete beginner for the first time this year. I'm renting so I don't really want to dig up the garden lawn, thus everything is being grown in pots. We had some warm weather early this year (southern England) so I sowed into trays directly outside and had lots of very successful germinations. I've now transplanted everything into bigger pots, it all seems happy and I'm feeling good about it. If you're going to be mostly container gardening, you could buy some tomato cages and pretty easily wrap chicken wire or mesh netting over them to protect them from pests. If they sit high enough up in the pot you shouldnt have to worry about slugs to much I would think.
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May 3, 2019 15:08
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A+ effort post Hexigrammus. That was very useful information for me. I’m thinking about ways to do a similar thing, maybe not like I have it built now, but definitely something to make watering less effort and better controlled.
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May 3, 2019 15:21
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Also just as a FYI, I'm currently on year 3 of using my drip tape under mulch. Not sure how long it stays working for, but so far it seems to be at least a while so long as it's not exposed to direct sunlight all the time.
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May 3, 2019 17:04
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Hexigrammus posted:[The entire guide I was hoping for] Thanks for this! I'm processing it all now and appreciate all the effort taken to prepare it. Also, another Lee Valley fan I see 
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May 3, 2019 20:01
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Pissed off with vine weevils now, they've spread to all the containers I sifted through and slaughters my cucumbers. I've ordered a programme of nematodes to be delivered ASAP and a repeat in autumn. Let's see how the little bastards deal with species-specific parasites.
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May 4, 2019 14:12
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The squirrels are unrelenting so now all the pots have chicken wire cages for the most part. All of the other exposed starters are now bound for the community garden. Not crazy about the plant prison look but the squirrels they are terrorists.
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May 4, 2019 18:21
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Man, squirrels dig annoying holes in my pots but it's crazy what some of y'all deal with.
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May 5, 2019 00:37
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I also discovered there's a family of bunnies under the shed. They are cute now that I've caged up everything so they can't get in my plants. Insects are my next foe. 
Grand Fromage fucked around with this message at 00:44 on May 5, 2019 |
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May 5, 2019 00:42
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Fitzy Fitz posted:Man, squirrels dig annoying holes in my pots but it's crazy what some of y'all deal with. I am seriously considering a pellet gun and rodent murder.
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May 5, 2019 04:55
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That was my dad's method. Surround the garden with squirrel corpses. Eventually they learn to stay away for the most part.
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May 5, 2019 13:55
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Check your local laws first. If your neighbors complain about you killing tree rats you want the law on your side. Some states it's only legal to live trap and relocate them.
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May 5, 2019 14:41
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I found a hedgehog having a kip in my shed. He'd also done a giant poo, which was less cute.
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May 5, 2019 16:10
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I have a balcony that only gets sunlight in the morning. Is there anything I can grow that works well in this kind of situation? I live in a humid subtropical climate. I managed to get some basil started and I'm trying cherry tomatoes because I was told they do OK in partial shade (though not great).
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May 6, 2019 11:01
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a7m2 posted:I have a balcony that only gets sunlight in the morning. Is there anything I can grow that works well in this kind of situation? I live in a humid subtropical climate. Greens!!! Really greens and herbs are the answer to any sort of "I have a marginal growing environment" issue. Greens grow in six inches of soil or less and with partial shade. Same with a bunch of herbs. And they're pretty expensive from the store and there's a big difference in freshness compared to what you can grow.
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May 6, 2019 14:28
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Arven posted:Check your local laws first. If your neighbors complain about you killing tree rats you want the law on your side. Some states it's only legal to live trap and relocate them. Live trap and relocate them underwater.
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May 6, 2019 22:33
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Platystemon posted:Live trap and relocate them Or in a pot of chilli.
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May 7, 2019 00:47
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