GardenFork – Eclectic DIY

Tag: water timers

  • Drip Irrigation Helps This Sidewalk Container Garden Grow

    Drip Irrigation Helps This Sidewalk Container Garden Grow

    I ran across this soaker hose drip irrigation setup in Park Slope, Brooklyn. Using drip irrigation to water a container garden is great, as the soil in containers dry out fast, especially those pots made out of terra cotta. The setup shown in the pictures here is similar to the one we built for our DIY container garden drip irrigation GardenFork video here.

    I like how the supply hoses are tucked away, you don’t see them unless you look closely. The supply hose runs around the end of the fencing and into the building, where its hooked up to a water timer. I can’t tell if this is a system the owner bought or they built DIY from hardware store components.

    There are brass fittings to connect the soaker hose to the supply lines between each container, which you can source in the plumbing department of your hardware store. The hose used looks like black vinyl, it works well because it disappears visually, I think.

    Putting the soaker hose system on a timer is essential, it keeps you from forgetting to water the plants, and it keeps you from over-watering the plants. Overwatering is one of the reasons plants die, one can drown their plants in water, which causes all sorts of fungus and disease.

    On the topic of container gardening, here is a good book on that:


    Buy From An Independent Bookstore Here

    Buy From Amazon Here

  • Drip Irrigation System with Soaker Hose – GF Video

    Drip Irrigation System with Soaker Hose – GF Video

    I use this homemade DIY drip irrigation system with soaker hose for my raised vegetable beds. Its easy to build and works great. Watch the video to see our first take on a soaker hose system. If you want to build a simpler version see my video for PVC connected soaker hose system.

    The drip irrigation system I built uses copper pipe, which can be expensive, you can also use PVC pipe to build the manifolds that feed the soaker hoses.

    Soaker Hose

    watch more drip irrigationjpg

    I dug a slot into the ground and pushed the garden hose into it to hide the hose feeding each raised bed. This makes lawnmower much easier too, no chance of running over a garden hose that way.

    Soaker Hose Drip Irrigation

    Key to watering your garden with drip irrigation is to not water it too much, i know its fun to watch the water ooze out of the soaker hoses, but you want the beds to dry out a bit between waterings. I water my vegetable beds every 4-5 days. Tomatoes, especially, grow best when the soil dries out between waterings. Too much water is just as bad as not enough water, it makes it easy for fungus and disease to grow.

    Soaker Hose Drip Irrigation

    How long do soaker hoses last? I’ve had these in the ground year round for about 10 years. Some hoses have leaked, but not a lot. And its obvious when they are leaking, and easy to fix. All you do is cut out the leak, and connect the two pieces back together with a piece of pipe.

    If the water pressure going into the hoses is fairly low, or if you use an inline pressure reducer attached to the garden hose, you can use cable ties instead of clamps to put the lines together. Soaker Hose Drip Irrigation

    Water timers for garden hoses have improved a bit lately, below is one i recommend. Some of these timers are awful to try to program.