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Wednesday, July 31, 2013

PVC Drip System Update

This has been a a really good year in the garden so far. We have had some battles with squash bugs that I will blog about in the near future. Other than that, everything seems to be producing.

In a previous article I contemplated setting up a pvc drip system. I actually went through with it and have been very pleased. I wanted a more efficient way of watering the garden that used less water. Most of my information for setting up the system came from my go to website for garden help, the Utah State University extension. This article was my main source of inspiration, and the process is pretty easy to figure out. Here is a picture of the garden in its glory with the pvc pipe running down each row. I have shutoff valves every three rows so I can divert water to specific rows in order to improve water pressure, or to water specific plants.


The drip system seems to work very well. The pipe are hooked right into my hose and I manually turn it on when I want to water.  This system seems to be very efficient. Utah has had one of the hottest summers I remember. Even with the heat, this past month I have only watered each row once a week for 20 minutes and our plants are green and producing well. This system has also cut down on weeds as only specific areas are watered 

As I talk to gardeners in our area, it seems that it is a good year for gardening. How are your backyard farms doing. Let us know in the comments.

~Michael~

7 comments:

stoneyacres said...

Michael, Our garden up in Riverton is doing great this year as well!! It will be a great year for us for melons. All this heat is giving us an awesome crop!!

I also use a PVC water system like yours and have been for 4 years. I love it!!

Anneke said...

Oh that is fabulous! I was in the Master gardener class and was able to see first hand the garden that this method was started in. your gardens looks Beautiful!! I love it. So fun to see something familiar to me and see how it is catching on.

daisy g said...

Your garden looks fabulous! I hope you will post with more details soon.

Our garden is pretty well spent. We are currently only able to grow peanuts, pineapple and sweet potatoes. Gearing up for fall though!

Sandra said...

Nice looking garden!
My husband set up a system like this in our blueberries. They are wonderful!

David said...

My automated watering system has been up and working for the beds in the back yard. Two years ago I tied in a rain water collection so as long as there's rain, 400 gallons will be stored for garden watering through timers. Times like July when we hardly had any rain, I have to supplement the water in the supply tank with city water. It's all gravity feed so as long as we get an inch or two of rain per month, it just works without intervention.

The harvest looks good this year but other than green beans hasn't really started yet. We had a very cold wet spring and planting didn't get started until the latter part of May.

Have a great garden harvesting day.

Mike said...

Stoneyacres: That's awesome that your melons are doing well. Thanks for sharing.

Anneke: That's cool that you saw the garden this method started in.

Daisy: I would love to be able to plant peanuts and pineapple in our garden. Good luck with them.

Sandra: I am glad the system is working for you as well. Let us know how the blueberries work out.

David: That is great that you are collecting rainwater. I will have to look into that a little bit more.

Unknown said...

I have been wanting to do this.