Vegetable gardening is different than general lawn care. Overhead sprinklers work well for watering grass but vegetable gardens benefit much more from an in-ground irrigation system that delivers the water directly to the plants' roots. Of the three methods discussed here, two don't even require any tools for installation. All can be left in place for the entire growing season and one of them can be left in place all year long.
Soaker hoses are fibrous hoses, kind of like a wire strainer, that allow water to seep out along the entire length. They are primarily made of ground up, recycled automobile tires. These usually work best when gardening with the traditional row method.
Lay a soaker hose about 3 to 4 inches from the base of the plants. You can bury them in mulch and leave them in the garden until the end of the growing season. Lay all or part of one soaker hose in each row of your garden, then wind it around to the next row, space and length permitting. For installing multiple soaker hoses, use a hose coupler that allows you to attach two soaker hoses to the spigot.
Drip irrigation tapes are essentially flat garden hoses with a series of holes all along their length. If you get the kind that are pressure-compensating, you won't need to install a flow regulator at the spigot. Without either of these, the water pressure can cause the hose to burst before the water reaches the end of the hose. Use drip irrigation tapes in the same manner as soaker hoses: place alongside the row of vegetables just a couple of inches from the base of the plants.
Drip emitter systems are water outlet heads which are connected to feeder hoses underground. They basically act like an underground sprinkler. The water seeps out of the emitter outlet head at a slow rate and saturates the soil.
Drip emitter feeder lines are installed by driving a flat spade into the soil, wiggling it back and forth and laying the feeder line into the resulting "trench." The water emitter head is then attached to one end of the feeder hose. The other end of the feeder hose is attached to the main line coming from the spigot. The feeder hose is then buried in the trench simply by stepping on the soil or sod with your foot.
Each emitter waters an area of several square feet; this distance varies with the manufacturer of the irrigation system. They are available as kits, as well as ala carte. You can leave these in the ground all year round. This type of irrigation system is best for intensive vegetable gardens, annual or perennial flower gardens, trees and shrubs.
Soil-borne disease organisms can be splashed onto the leaves of the plants when using sprinklers. Irrigation systems reduce the possibility of pests and diseases attacking garden vegetables because they deliver water directly to the roots.
Copyright Sharon Sweeny, 2009. All rights reserved
