Endless Plumber
Originally uploaded by mikeysklar
I've been connecting up the irrigation system to our two new beds (12 x 4 ). The plumbing never ends.
I've been connecting up the irrigation system to our two new beds (12 x 4 ). The plumbing never ends.
6 comments:
will you have enough water pressure to keep expanding?
also, lumber costs are quite high. any other material can be used? papercrete? old plastic? rocks?
At the moment we have 7 zones in our irrigation system. Each zone runs on it's own for 15 minutes which avoid them having to compete with each other for water pressure. If we add more beds we will need to add more zones.
Lumber is expensive, but making papercrete is so time consuming that I'd rather just buy the wood.
7 zones works. I think on one of our zones, I calculated we can use over 200 emitters at max flow. We love the 0-10 gpm emitters, as we can microcontrol each plant.
It helps when pressure off of the municipal water is 160 psi, have to reduce down to 80psi.
Up north we have a different set of problems as all irrigation and water-use is creek-fed and you have to use pumps. Or create a gravity based system with dams, which is fun!
Cedar is so damn expensive here in S.o Cal. I cant bring myself to buy any, as I cut, cure, and mill my own up north. And alder wood grows as a weed. I also noted a lot of people use pressure-treated wood here in the States, which of course defeats the purpose of eating organic!
Another project of interest is using catch basins from the house gutter system and gravity feed out to the plants. Only works from winter rains though of course! Every home in the Southwest should be required to have one.
Are you using a home made microcontroller setup for each plant?
yes, we use microcontroller at plant level. old passion of mine from 1992 when I developed automatic plant waterers in my apartment.
@Matt what is your irrigation setup like? In terms of tubing, emitters, solenoids and controllers? Maybe you can post it on your blog. I am subscribed.
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