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Good Gardening: Drip Irrigation

   If you like weeding, enjoy paying high water bills, and want to keep salmon from spawning in the McKenzie river, then keep watering with your overhead sprinkler.  If you don't,  it's time to switch to drip irrigation.
  The principle behind drip irrigation is simple.  Water only the plants- not the spaces in between them.  Without water, the weeds will stop growing- or a least slow down. The savings are obvious- one gallon to the roots of the tomato plant costs less than ten gallons spread all around it.  And just because we are lucky enough to have a lot of water in Oregon doesn't mean we should waste it.
  Another big benefit of drip irrigation is that the foliage on your plants stays dry.  I know how great vegetables look in advertisements glistening with drops of water, but wet plants are more subject to disease, and cracking than dry plants.
  Drip systems come in two basic styles.  T- tape which is used mostly for commercial agriculture. and emmiter/drip tube systems which work well in the home garden or landscape.  When you first see the pieces spread out on the floor, it looks complicated, but once you work with the parts, the way it works will become clear.
  Here's a little overview.  Your hose connects to a pressure reducer.  From there, a main distribution line feeds either point emitters, or drip tubing.  The single one or two gallon emitters work well for tomatoes, peppers, squash, and other individual plants.  The drip tubing- which has a tiny hole poked in it every twelve inches- works well for corn, beans, beets, lettuce, and other row or bed crops.
  You can get a starter kit at home improvement or garden stores for about thirty dollars, and then customize it with more emitters, or drip tubing to fit the special needs of your garden or landscape.  I have invested fifty dollars into my system over the last twenty years.  I also keep my eyes open at yard sales for extra parts.
  If you are putting drip irrigation in for landscaping plants, it can stay year round.  Because the tubes are not pressurized, and the system is open, it is not subject to freeze damage.  The system for you vegetable garden will need to come out each year, and be re-installed.  The plants will be in different places each year, so the components will be moved each year.
  I have blocks of emitters that work well for ten tomato or pepper plants.  I leave those parts of the system connected to each other, and plant to fit each year.
  A drip system works much better than overhead watering, but it is not perfect.  Some plants- say a a rapidly growing squash hill- may need a little extra water.  Your shovel or hoe will cut through the easily fixed tubing if you're not careful.  And you'll have to get used to a new sound between the rows.  
 

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