Seeding
Transplants and bedding plants have roots large enough
to find the wet soil under the surface from drip irrigation, but
if you sow seed directly in a row
you may need a special solution.
You are fortunate if you can depend
on soil moisture at the surface from rain or spring snow
to
sprout
seed. If the soil is too dry for that, one solution is to
go ahead and set up the dripline that will be used and then supplement
it with temporary low-pressure sprayers
that will keep the soil surface damp enough for seed germination.
Our low-pressure sprayers have a very soft spray pattern that doesn't compact
the soil or cause runoff and erosion. Read more...
Once the seed has sprouted
and the roots are forming, you can move the
sprayers
out
of the row
or
bed
and
let
the plants
find
the
water
in the soil from the dripline.
Transplants
For small transplants or bedding plants, you can space two rows of dripline
close together. The two rows at the right in the raised bed photo
above are spaced 4" apart and staggered so that drippers cover the
maximum area in the row. Effectively, our drippers are now spaced
every 6" in the row with the stagger.
Dripline can bend in a 12" radius and can follow
curved beds and contours easily. Use shepherd stakes to hold dripline
in place.
If you have a choice, lay out the dripline first and
then plant to take advantage of the dripper spacing. In the lettuce
photo to the left, we have transplanted lettuce on both sides of
the dripline to use every drop of water available.
For row crops, operate dripline for about 45 minutes
at a time. Any longer than that and gravity may pull the water below
the root zone and the water will be wasted.
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