Photo by Amy L. Dabbs
July’s heat can be tough on plants and the gardeners who try to keep them well watered. Fortunately, dragging heavy hoses around the yard is not your only option. Automating your watering routine can make irrigating garden plants as simple as turning on a faucet.
My porch and deck are fairly groaning with hanging baskets and potted herbs and flowers. I used to spend an hour a day hand-watering plants while mosquitoes nipped at my ankles and water ran into my shoes. To keep up with the demand for water—and save my sanity—I automated my watering routine by installing a drip-irrigation system.
Drip irrigation is highly efficient, meaning lower water bills and less waste. It saves water by directing it to plant roots and preventing loss through evaporation. And, because water does not spray all over the plants’ leaves, there’s less likelihood of diseases cropping up.
Prepackaged drip-irrigation kits are available at local garden centers and irrigation-supply stores, with all component parts included—ideal for those with little experience installing irrigation systems. Just be sure to buy the kit you need—there are options designed for porches, patios and decks, and others for landscape use. Kits labeled for landscape use typically spray water over a larger area, making them a better choice for flowerbeds and vegetable gardens.
If you are a design-it-yourself type, all the parts you’ll need are sold at lawn-and-garden centers, irrigation-supply companies or online. Here’s the basic setup, this one for container plants:
You’ll need drip-irrigation emitters—like small sprinklers for your containers. Made of plastic, these devices sit on top of plastic stakes in the soil and allow water to bubble or drip out slowly. Standard flow rates are half a gallon, one gallon or two gallons per hour, but some emitters are adjustable, allowing gardeners to set the flow at up to 10 gallons per hour.
A pressure regulator with a fine-mesh filter attaches at the faucet and regulates water pressure to ensure that water reaches the farthest point on the line and that emitters do not pop out of the system if the pressure is too high. The filter prevents sediment in the water from stopping up the emitters over time. Sediment in well water can cause clogging and may require replacing emitters and cleaning filters more often.
Flexible plastic tubing attaches to the regulator and serves as the main supply line. It can be attached to porches or railings with C-clamps, so it stays out of the way while it delivers water where it’s needed.
With your main supply line in place, you decide where to place emitters for each pot. Attach emitters via spaghetti tubing to bridge the gap between the supply line and the pot. Use a hole punch or scissors to make connections where needed along the line. The distance between supply line and pot should not be more than a few feet. Use “goof plugs” to fill holes and a figure-eight clamp to seal the open end of the supply line.
After each pot has its own emitter, just turn on the faucet when it’s time to water.
AMY L. DABBS is an area horticulture agent for Clemson Extension based in Charleston County. Contact her at adabbs@clemson.edu.
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Get More
For more details on garden irrigation, visit clemson.edu/extension/hgic/plants/other/irrigation.