I have loved watching and learning over the past year or so. But this time I just sat back and smiled. My wife is a flower nut, and I've installed drip irrigation for five years. In Minnesota of course, it needs to dismantled and installed again each spring. I'm just finishing up a multi-timer system that waters 120 pots, and has over 100 feet of ground drip line. Love what you do!
That rain collection tank is a good investment. Arrived here outside of Fort Worth after dark on new year's day from southern California. Wow, you have rain, seems a waste not to harvest it. Thanks for the video. That will give you peace of when you're on the road.
Looks good! As a professional landscaper, sometimes when its warm out the tubing gets soft and the punch doesn't always punch thru. It works best to turn on the water, therefore you have pressure pushing out and the punch goes thru much easier. And yes you'll get a little WET! Keep up the great work that you do!
you need to apply mulch it will aid in surface evaporation loss and help retain moisture in the soil. It appears you have infiltration issues because of the water ponding on the surface, so the incorporation of compost mixed into the soil over the journey will help. Love the vids.
Just love the giddy look on your face when a plan comes together 😃. I’ve done a similar system previously on my uk allotment where no power or mains water existed. This was a low pressure system using a collection barrel placed on a stand to give some height and pressure for the water to run through the drip system - worked a treat!
I have my own mini garden in the middle of town, and my Grandfather has been a woodworker all his life with his own workshop on his property. I started my own alternative woodworking business from his workshop, and after I found your channel I have gotten obsessed(tho we do make different things :P)! Watching all your videos, sometimes several times :P You might be my my super'heroine'! Hoping to someday come se your new workshop!! Thank you for all the amazing tips you give us :)
You can further reduce evaporation by wrapping the punctured tubes in felt (synthetic, not woolen), burying them under an inch or so of soil, with the upper part covered with some plastic sheet, maybe 4-5 inches wide - also buried. The felt prevents the holes from getting clogged. Water is released only into the soil, diffuses only downwards, due to the plastic cover, and never reaches the surface. Besides reducing evaporation, this also greatly helps with weeds - weeds need the top layer of soil to be at leas slightly moist to sprout, and with this system there's a thin layer of soil at the top which is dry all the time. An even more economic system was developed in Australia, where they pad the bottom of the beds with felt, and put the punctured hoses between two layers of felt. This way, water only diffuses upwards. They did this out of necessity - in some regions, water is extremely scarce, and becomes scarcer every year. One more thing: your soil seems in need for more added organic matter - it doesn't let water through fast enough, it seems. You can chop up the stems and what won't be harvested from the plants and mix it into the soil. In time, this will improve it.
Dear sister i am very impress of your working style realy your technic is very wonderful i am a civil and interior contractor from mumbai i salut you thanks
Your timing couldn’t be better. I just finished planting my garden (Michigan Zone 6a) this weekend and I was looking for a self watering guide. Another great build, April!
Good to see you smiling again it’s been awhile 🙂 I’d thought you would have the butler watering the garden 😉 Irrigation saves time saves water saves money it’s the efficient way of keeping things watered.
Thinking that a plastic utility sink with side shelf might be a welcome addition to the outdoor garden hooked into the water for hand washing and vegetable and fruit prep . With a gravel base or bin underneath for drainage for water catchment to recycle used rinse water
Great project, I've learned it's better to connect the filter before the timer. The timing systems have narrow water passages that can be clogged by send that flow inside the water.
Friendly info... Rain water = distilled water = devoid of minerals. This can cause you issues with soil pH since you are in a container garden (not in the ground). Over time the water will leach your soil of minerals causing the pH to suffer in one direction. Just keep it in mind and be sure you get worms and your own compost with lots of egg shells (suggest looking into no till principles) .... Videos are great! And your content is amazing! Can't wait to see how your harvest goes!
April nicely done. Given your climate I would suggest mulching the garden some (a quick read down and I see others say the same), help with sun exposure evaporation. Sun netting given the set up you have, would be very easy to install. These would reduce the need for watering. I would also suggest looking into the many varieties of millet that would do well here (there are a number of papers written on them from Texas and New Mexico universities), they would require less irrigation and would provide shade coverage in mixed planting beds (not to mention millet is a good dietary cereal grain for both people and their vegetarian live stock).
My family loves your channel you have great and detailed instructions on how to do something and always have the comments and where to get it below. 😍😍😊
Yo April! Re: teflon tape-Your wrapping tip is correct. However, if you wrap placing the outside of the tape roll against the threads you will get a neater, tighter wrap, and you wont slip off (as you show) and have to start again. Give it a try, yo will see what I mean.
Another tip I use because I am lazy: Take the roll of 1/4 inch tubing and lay it out in a straight line three days in advance. That way the sun can heat it and soften it so it does not curl when you want it to go straight. The larger hose does the same thing but I use the anchors to hold it to more solid surfaces and the ground.
We prefer drip emitters rather than the perforated hose. You have much more control over placement and have nearly unlimited options for drippers , sprayers, and different flow rates of each and can even change them out each year or plug them. In the Seattle area, we do 15 minutes per morning. 1hr per morning would flood our yard (remember April lives in Texas!)
Great job but I like to hand water with a wand. I have different nozzles for different needs. I have extended spigots all over and roll a small hose reel to each bed. This forces me to slow down, pay attention, and actually look at my plants, noticing any problems early, pull weeds and bugs and just generally fuss over the garden which I find very pleasant and effective. There's a thousand ways to skin every cat... :) I love the rainwater catchment idea. Must do that...........
I’m modelling my garden after this except I’m having 2 beds on each side for a total of 14 perimeter beds. I’ll add two beds in the centre and install a 16 zone sprinkler controller so I have independent control of watering in each bed. Great garden, can’t wait to get mine finished. Thanks for the ideas!
Really What It's All About that’s a really expensive way to go about it just do them all on one or 2 zones and then put an individual ball valve at each bed
Anne was mentioning your name- she's home in Tennessee, making up with a bunch of Nashville area makers. The Wood Shed was fab- another year of growth and endeavor. KOKO!
This is a nice system as well but it gave me an idea for the misting system I want to do with my wifes greenhouse for her cactus and succulents later next year. Thanks !
I use the drip hose for my lettuce and onion type plants but for my tomatoes and pepper type plants I use the Drip Irrigation Emitters. Using emitters you can deliver the water near the base of the plant. These emitters are rated by gallons per hour and you can get 1/2 gallon, 1 gallon, or 2 gallon per hour emitters.
Fine Video again! Not a small Garden for sure! How do You manage it all? All is always so perfect and well explained! You should come to Australia and make my place so. I am learning new from You every day!
I have found that if you water before midnight while the heat is disapating from the soil, it will absorb into the soil much longer before sunrise. There should be a bit better economy of water that way, and the deeper absorb will make the water well down from the sun's heat during the day. That will encourage the plant roots to go deeper and make them less susseptible to surface dryness.
I can't tell you how happy I am to see a real drip system with really planning and deliberate choices. I used to manage an irrigation supply house and do irrigation designs and this video made me happy. Just add that the drip lines come with different rate water emitters to satisfy the needs of everything from water needy plants like crucifers and peas and lentils, and to low water plants like beans or even desert plantings all off of the same drip system. google is your friend. You can look up gallons per hour requirements for anything. _EVERY other so called drip irrigation video_ I've seen so far this year just threw out soaker hose and congratulated themselves. You always have great videos with a clear intent to empower people to do well. Thanks for you. You put waves of good out into the world and we have no idea where they end (or _if_ they do). I don't even know if it's in the cards for you, but your smart parents made a smart you and if you and your talented smart honey ever have kids, look out world! Plus gingers rule.
Wonderful 😊 with the rooster in the background this looked a lot like playing hay day or big little farmer on an ipad. Hey April, consider using a wind filter for your microphone.
My mom just retired and is looking for a part time job. I'm trying to convince her to let me build something like your garden, and start a small farm with me 😂
I'll be curious to see how your corn does with only two rows. I feel like you'd do better if you used the beds in the middle and planted large squares of corn. Corn is a grass and it's pollinated by wind so it tends to do better in blocks rather than rows. Another tip, bury a bale of straw at the bottom of each bed at the beginning of the season. Soak the bed to charge the straw and then mulch your plants to reduce surface evaporation. The buried straw will hold an amazing amount of water for your plant and it'll provide food for all the worms and other beneficial microbes. There should be very little, if any, straw left after you harvest. Ok, that's all the mansplaining I have, gonna go run some soaker hose in my beds. Good luck!!
You should have run all the tubing at the bottom of the soil. That would force all the roots to go deep and help prevent evaporation. Roots will sometimes clog the holes, but not often. Also, you can cap off a standard garden hose and poke holes with a needle, pin, or small nail. Much cheaper and faster install than using "drip irrigation" parts.
Hi AW, WHAT TIMER DO YOU USE? I am a senior and can't master difficult timers. I yours battery or solar. I am a FAN of your shows, they are so great! Thank You!
Few people apply Teflon tape the easy way: Hold your item in your left hand and apply the tape not from the bottom side, like it was masking tape, but the top side with your right... Hold it on the threads with your thumb and spin the tape cartridge clockwise till you're happy. Do this right and its the least clumsy way of doing it. Even if you need to adjust my directions, the key is using the top of the tape rather than the bottom.....carry on.
I installed drip TAPE last year - much cheaper, BUT less durable, vulnerable to sharp rocks and rodent chewing, so have some leaks this year. Debating whether to switch to hose like this; I think most of the fittings might work on tape or hose of this size.
Hate to tell you this April but at 3:06 in the video you were wrapping the teflon tape backwards ... just so you know ! I have put on a lot of teflon tape in my lifetime and I saw it and thought you might want to know. :-) Cheers love you and your video's !
For several years I specialised in the Installation of Agricultural Irrigation Systems, in the driest State on the driest Continent on Earth. This is just so much simpler.
I want to do this with a gravity fed drip system from a barrel, no water pipes involved, you can add compost tea or other nutrients straight to the barrel.
Hi April, I didn't see the watering timer listed in the parts you used, in the video description. Can you specify what you used for your intake mechanism? Thanks.
Perfect timing April, just finishing our fence on ours. Really steller presentation here and videography! How many rooster sounds did you have to edit out ? 😅
Regular wood chips and shavings are not ideal. Most wood, untreated, acidifies the soil. Chopped straw is better. Alternatively, you can mix the wood shavings with egg shells - the calcium carbonate annihilates acids. But messing with the soil chemistry is risky. Straw is all natural, does not contain weed seeds, and also no tannin or resin, like wood. You just need to make sure it comes from lots cultivated without pesticides - otherwise you contaminate your soil.
I remember when I coud squat, kneel and work like that. in my yard. Just a few short years ago.Rheumatoid Arthritis got me good. Sucks being able in your mind but not your body. I do the best I can. I'm still out there so there's that. You can't give in.
Are your beds 4ft wide? I’m trying to determine how it is working the back foot or so of your bed design (against the fence. Any comments on the experience? I love it and I’m considering purchasing your plans if I can recommend it to a community garden club I’m working with.
