Using soaker hoses

[GoldenMom]

I've never used soaker hoses and think they might be a good idea. I have 2 gardens, the larger one is fairly close to a hydrant; the other is too far from the hydrant to make it worth while. I was hoping that for the one that is too far from the hydrant I could use a large water tank for my water source. Will a soaker hose work without the amount of back pressure a hydrant would provide? I'd have probably 100-150 feet of hose hooked up for this garden, maybe more if it works out well.

The "big" garden, nearer the hydrant, could easily accommodate 400+ feet of soaker hose. Is that too much to be all connected together? If so, how much would be reasonable?

I'm sure I can figure out how much 1" of water is in gallons if I do some converting and looking for the conversion factors, but does anyone know a quick formula to figure this? How do you know how much water you run through the hoses if they are hooked to a hydrant? Do you need to know how many gallons per minute your hydrant puts out or is a specific amount of water a soaker hose can allow to penetrate in a given time?

Thanks!

[Ernie]

I have used soaker hoses connected to a normal outside faucet. I can get about 200 feet before the pressure is too low to do me much good. A soaker hose is intended to drip though and saturate the soil, so you can go a lot further with them than that.

I'm not sure what you mean by "hydrant". It could be a faucet, it could be the spigot on a well, or it could be a red fire plug hydrant that the fire department might use. You need to be a little more specific.

A system that works for me is to lay out multiple soaker hoses down different rows and then just connect them to a feeder hose as needed. That way I'm watering 1800 feet of row space but yet with only 200 foot of hose at a time. I just need to go disconnect it from one and connect it to the next one every 30 minutes. It takes me about 2 days to go through the entire acre.

[terri46355]

I don't like soaker hoses. The ones I had didn't soak evenly. They got cracks and enlarged holes that flooded some areas. I had a smaller garden and had to bend them around corners, so that might have contributed to them failing to work properly.

If you can afford it, you might consider drip irrigation with the small soaker hose attachments that plug into the main lines.

[GoldenMom]

Thanks for the replies. Good to know about 200' is the max, that will dictate how I do this if I decide to do it. Maybe I'll just use it in the strawberry bed (or get those fancy ones you suggested, Terri) to see how I like it.

By hydrant I mean a regular hydrant that you pull up on the handle and water comes out. You hook a regular hose up to it.

[Ernie]

I didn't mean to apply 200' is the max, but it's just MY max with my lower water pressure. You might get more or you might get less. I've got a well instead of city water so my pressure is a little lower. I also water out of cisterns which has only gravity pressure.

The other problem I have with soaker hoses is they don't seem to last more than a season or two around here before they rot out or break. I'm not as good to my equipment as I ought to be though.

[frogmammy]

Ok, so here's another question:

I have a young tree to water, in the middle of a cemetary. Nearest water, as far as I can tell, is about 1/4 mile away (or more). I'm thinking I can take a five gallon bucket, drill holes in half the lid, fill with water, then just upend the bucket and let it sit by the tree for 20-30 minutes (each side of the tree). I COULD just dump the water, but I'm thinking slow water will get the most H2O into the ground and into my tree.

Thoughts?

Mon

[Patsy]

Frogmammy- I punch a nail hole on the side of a bucket about 1" or so from the bottom. Fill the bucket with water, put on the lid, & it waters slowly. My daughter is saving cat litter buckets for me which are a little smaller than 5 gallon buckets. I tried it last year & it works out great for me.

[Ernie]

Originally Posted by frogmammy

Ok, so here's another question:

I have a young tree to water, in the middle of a cemetary. Nearest water, as far as I can tell, is about 1/4 mile away (or more). I'm thinking I can take a five gallon bucket, drill holes in half the lid, fill with water, then just upend the bucket and let it sit by the tree for 20-30 minutes (each side of the tree). I COULD just dump the water, but I'm thinking slow water will get the most H2O into the ground and into my tree.

Thoughts?

Mon

I have about 15 trees in an orchard about a quarter mile from my house up on a hill. When they were younger trees and had higher water requirements I took a gallon milk jug (plastic) and cut a small hole in the bottom, about the size of the palm of my hand. Then I buried it flush with the ground right up against each tree (but not so close as to destroy any root structure). I would then take water up there and pour it into each jug. It would take maybe an hour or so for that gallon to sink down into the soil. but that method made sure that the ground around the root system got good and soaked deep where it wouldn't evaporate. I did that about every 3-5 days during the heat of the summer drought.

[frogmammy]

Thanks for the replies/suggestions!

This tree is to be planted at a national VA (not Virginia!) cemetary so I am *severely* limited as to what I can do. I can't leave anything in place there, any length of time without me nearby, nor dig at all. They like people to donate trees, but they won't take care of them (as in water the tree). So, it's up to me to make sure my husband's tree lives.

I may try to figure out how I can adapt the milk jug idea to work well above ground. The tree is a 12' Red Maple. As I understand things, I need to water every third day for the first month, then once a week.

Do you suggest I water up near the trunk, or more toward the drip line?

Mon

[frogmammy]

Bump!

[mooman]

I've never used soaker hoses and think they might be a good idea.

I would look into drip tape irrigation. those soaker hoses are REALLY EXPENSIVE. It is my understanding that they need full pressure to work. Drip tapes on the other hand only need around 15psi to work properly (in fact you need an inexpensive regulator or they blow out).

I plan on using the tape for a couple few years before replacing it with new tape. The 1/2 inch feeder line (sometimes calle funny hose) is good for many years.

I was able to irrigate about 2,000 feet (all one zone, but that was the max for the amount of water my spigot will put out) for about $120. Most of that 120.00 was for a huge spool of the drip tape itself. Even if I used fresh tape every year I have enough for about 5 years I think.

PS in my state I was able to write the purchase off on my taxes so the actual price was about $90.00. Water proofing the garden was the best thing I ever did (I was the guy cursing and making an ass of himself when forced to manhandle a hose around to all the beds )