Need help figuring the best way to irrigate

[BigTex]

Need help with set up of automated electric pump to run off batteries and a solar panel.Here's what I'm thinkin- 12v dc pump ( bilge pump maybe), 12v dc marine grade batt. to run pump, 12v dc solar panel to charge batt., and some sort of timer to operate the pump( something like a deer feeder timer but with a lil longer run time. I'm pumping water a short distance over flat ground. I think a lil setup like this running for one hour or so a night would meet my needs. I am watering apprx. 600sq./ft. Would I be better off with a gas pump? I've never irrigated before and need some input on the most effecient and cost effective way to do so. I'm a guerilla on a budget!

 

[floater]

probably a really bad idea. if you're gonna irrigate- do it manually, perhaps with a small gas pump. running irrigation just complicates and makes trouble. unless you're in a desert, you won't need daily watering anyway.

 

[antimatter]

If you need to run Irrigation get yourself some reservoirs and have your pump fill em up and then just run lines out of those on timers gravity fed (you should have your reservoirs on higher ground than your plants), use black pvc smaller the size more friction loss and shorter the length you can use, make sure to cover up the lines because from the air they look like big spider webs.

would be a good idea to read up on it a bit, its important to plan it all out and know how much water is being used and how often your reservoirs need to be filled up. http://www.dripirrigation.ca/
http://www.dripirrigation.ca/HowTo_Gravity.asp

 

[BigTex]

Maybe something like this... and just water manually as needed with no res. is what I'm thinkin...

Check out this link here- Honda WX-10

http://www.hondapowerequipment.com/products/modeldetail.aspx?page=modeldetail&section=P2WP&modelname=WX10%20%20%20%20%20%20&modelid=WX10K1AT

^This pump can move 37 gallons a minute, lift water 118' above it(Total Head Lift), and suck it up 27' below it(Suction Head Lift), all this and it weighs only 13.4 lbs! Also this pump is adapted to garden hose fittings easily.

I found this lil baby in a thread last nite. Do yall think she'll be the right choice? Looks like a winner to me

 

[antimatter]

Right on, just throwing in my piece, the drip irrigation is good for big plots. That pump is nice, im gonna be relying on nature this year but theres some really nice big open areas that are dry as a bone in the heat of summer that id like to use someday so pumps for those areas are a must.

 

[BigTex]

Right on, just throwing in my piece, the drip irrigation is good for big plots. That pump is nice, im gonna be relying on nature this year but theres some really nice big open areas that are dry as a bone in the heat of summer that id like to use someday so pumps for those areas are a must.

I'm doing two areas each approx. 600 sq. ft.

 

[foo_bird]

http://www.irrigro.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=12&Itemid=48
I've used it for years in my vegetable garden seems to work great
thought it might help good luck

 

[antimatter]

I would say the only thing I don't like about that Irrigro is that the tubing is white and if your plants are spread out at all it would waste water, dripline has holes every 12" but you can just get some regular pvc tubing and put your own holes in at points you need. Im not really sure how long it would take to water a 600 square foot field without irrigation but probably not very long with 75 gallons a minute pump lol.. I would make it 4-6 plots though, 2 plots can get ripped pretty fast.

 

[BigTex]

I would say the only thing I don't like about that Irrigro is that the tubing is white and if your plants are spread out at all it would waste water, dripline has holes every 12" but you can just get some regular pvc tubing and put your own holes in at points you need. Im not really sure how long it would take to water a 600 square foot field without irrigation but probably not very long with 75 gallons a minute pump lol.. I would make it 4-6 plots though, 2 plots can get ripped pretty fast.

Man all that tubing just seems like wasted effort to me, but I really can't knock it cause I've never tried it. I was just gonna stash some hose when not in use and just flood my lil plot on my weekly visits or as needed. You know just let the hose run and move it a lil as needed. Heck I could probably just run the hose to the middle of my plot, start up my pump, and before I could finish burnin one under a shade tree it'd be plenty wet.

You think 4-6 plots??? I've spread it out like that before and it really increased my work load. The way I see it is if you wanna make X amount in a given area and you have 6 plots instead of lets say one then you are six times more likely to be found. If one is found then usually the heat is on! I like two plots myself. Grandpa always said, " Don't ever put all your eggs in one basket". I got ripped once by someone I had shown. Won't do that again, but "knock on wood" I've only been ripped once out of 17 seasons. Location...location...location!!!

 

[antimatter]

I hear ya on the flood irrigation, having all those lines is extra work, the whole idea behind it is you don't have to go walking around with your hose watering you just fill up the res and let it do the job, and all the water is used efficiently no hassle or wondering if you forgot something. I know 4 or 6 plots sounds like alot its just that with so much that can go wrong having more plots increases your chances of bringing it home, if you get ripped, leoed, mold, and attacked by animals all in the same year you have a better chance of bringing it in if you have more plots: think of it like this if you get ripped there goes 1 plot, if your crop gets taken by the leo theres plot number 2, if your plot is eaten by animals there goes plot 3, but you still have 3 more plots, I know it sounds ridiculous that all those things happen in 1 year but it does all the time. You can choose to take those 2 plots and spread out the number of plants in 6 plots or do 6 plots of 600 sq feet its up to you to decide, but the best way to increase your plant numbers is to have more plots, and once you reach a good amount of plots increase number of plants from there

 

[antimatter]

heres something I got off of wikipedia, it pretty much lays it out, I personally like the idea of drip irrigation for irregular shaped plots which are recommended and long distances that would require alot of time watering with a hose.

Advantage / disadvantages of drip irrigation

The advantages of drip irrigation are:

* Minimized fertilizer/nutrient loss due to localized application and reduced leaching.
* High water application efficiency.
* Leveling of the field not necessary.
* Ability to irrigate irregular shaped fields.
* Allows safe use of recycled water.
* Moisture within the root zone can be maintained at field capacity.
* Soil type plays less important role in frequency of irrigation.
* Minimized soil erosion.
* Highly uniform distribution of water i.e., controlled by output of each nozzle.
* Lower labour cost.
* Variation in supply can be regulated by regulating the valves and drippers.
* Fertigation can easily be included with minimal waste of fertilizers.
* Foliage remains dry thus reducing the risk of disease.
* Usually operated at lower pressure than other types of pressurised irrigation, reducing energy costs.

The disadvantages of drip irrigation are:

* Expense. Initial cost can be more than overhead systems.
* Waste. The sun can affect the tubes used for drip irrigation, shortening their usable life. Longevity is variable.
* Clogging. If the water is not properly filtered and the equipment not properly maintained, it can result in clogging.
* Drip irrigation might be unsatisfactory if herbicides or top dressed fertilizers need sprinkler irrigation for activation.
* Drip tape causes extra cleanup costs after harvest. You'll need to plan for drip tape winding, disposal, recycling or reuse.
* Waste of water, time & harvest, if not installed properly. These systems requires careful study of all the relevant factors like land topography, soil, water, crop and agro-climatic conditions, and suitability of drip irrigation system and its components.
* Germination Problems. In lighter soils subsurface drip may be unable to wet the soil surface for germination. Requires careful consideration of the installation depth.

 

[BigTex]

heres something I got off of wikipedia, it pretty much lays it out, I personally like the idea of drip irrigation for irregular shaped plots which are recommended and long distances that would require alot of time watering with a hose.

Advantage / disadvantages of drip irrigation

The advantages of drip irrigation are:

* Minimized fertilizer/nutrient loss due to localized application and reduced leaching.
* High water application efficiency.
* Leveling of the field not necessary.
* Ability to irrigate irregular shaped fields.
* Allows safe use of recycled water.
* Moisture within the root zone can be maintained at field capacity.
* Soil type plays less important role in frequency of irrigation.
* Minimized soil erosion.
* Highly uniform distribution of water i.e., controlled by output of each nozzle.
* Lower labour cost.
* Variation in supply can be regulated by regulating the valves and drippers.
* Fertigation can easily be included with minimal waste of fertilizers.
* Foliage remains dry thus reducing the risk of disease.
* Usually operated at lower pressure than other types of pressurised irrigation, reducing energy costs.

The disadvantages of drip irrigation are:

* Expense. Initial cost can be more than overhead systems.
* Waste. The sun can affect the tubes used for drip irrigation, shortening their usable life. Longevity is variable.
* Clogging. If the water is not properly filtered and the equipment not properly maintained, it can result in clogging.
* Drip irrigation might be unsatisfactory if herbicides or top dressed fertilizers need sprinkler irrigation for activation.
* Drip tape causes extra cleanup costs after harvest. You'll need to plan for drip tape winding, disposal, recycling or reuse.
* Waste of water, time & harvest, if not installed properly. These systems requires careful study of all the relevant factors like land topography, soil, water, crop and agro-climatic conditions, and suitability of drip irrigation system and its components.
* Germination Problems. In lighter soils subsurface drip may be unable to wet the soil surface for germination. Requires careful consideration of the installation depth.

Hey man I like the sound of all of that but I'm not sure if it'd be practical in my case. If it is I'd love to try and set up a drip emmiter system. I saw this system used once in a mountainous region... the guy had dug a pool approx 1/4 acre and had his garden below the pool, because of the slope it was"gravity feed". It was awesome. Awesome results too! anyway it is totally flat here and I would have to use storage barrels. How long would some barrels actually be good for? They are also an eyesore. I appreciate all this help by the way antimatter.

 

[BigTex]

What's the best way to set one up on flat ground? Barrels?

 

[antimatter]

Ive never tried the drip stuff myself but have done a fair bit of research on it and I know a few outdoor growers of 20 years that swear by em, and have seen em in action in peoples gardens, commercial nursery's etc. Flood irrigation will work just fine its been used for 1000's of years in farming and is still used today, if you have unlimited supply of water flood that shit and your plants will love it. In regards to drip on flatland well you would have to have a pump for your reservoirs to get the psi up to run the water several hundred feet. The more I think about it the more it all seems like more work setting it up and taking it down than its worth, I try and think about how big of a resovoir it would take to irrigate a large crop on drip irrigation and im lost, and I sure as hell am not waiting for the drippers to water everything.

 

[BigTex]

Ive never tried the drip stuff myself but have done a fair bit of research on it and I know a few outdoor growers of 20 years that swear by em, and have seen em in action in peoples gardens, commercial nursery's etc. Flood irrigation will work just fine its been used for 1000's of years in farming and is still used today, if you have unlimited supply of water flood that shit and your plants will love it. In regards to drip on flatland well you would have to have a pump for your reservoirs to get the psi up to run the water several hundred feet. The more I think about it the more it all seems like more work setting it up and taking it down than its worth, I try and think about how big of a resovoir it would take to irrigate a large crop on drip irrigation and im lost, and I sure as hell am not waiting for the drippers to water everything.

Man I'm watering from a stock pond that's maybe 1/4 acre, lot's of water, but it's so f'n flat. The only way I can see to make it work is to fill barrels and set em on the dam to try and elevate em. Am I right? or is there a better way? Maybe I'm overlooking something but seems to me that mini floods will be more practical. You think?

 

[antimatter]

ya I don't think any sort of gravity fed system is gonna work for that, just to flat, 37 gallons a minute is a shitload of water anyhow you'll be in and out real quick.

EDIT: woops it wasn't 75 gallons/m it was 37 on that WX10 but the WX15 is 72

 

[scaramanga]

Stay away from bilge pumps for this type of use. They simply don't have enough pressure to push water any considerable distance. Your money would certainly be better spent on something like a Shurflo or other similar type pump. Shurflo has pumps that put out over 100 psi and could easily be run from a solar recharged battery system.

Good Luck!

 

[antimatter]

If you have 600 plants in a dry climate your probably gonna be giving 2 gallons of water per plant everytime you water so thats 1200 gallons id think it would be better to have the pump that weighs 20 lbs pumping out 72 gallons a minute vs the the little dinky 13 lb one thats only 37 gallons a minute theres gonna be a lot of run off because of the flooding on top of the water requirements, dam that would take one hell of a reservoir if a drip system was being used, this is the kinda shit that should be done on farmland with water on tap.

 

[BigTex]

If you have 600 plants in a dry climate your probably gonna be giving 2 gallons of water per plant everytime you water so thats 1200 gallons id think it would be better to have the pump that weighs 20 lbs pumping out 72 gallons a minute vs the the little dinky 13 lb one thats only 37 gallons a minute theres gonna be a lot of run off because of the flooding on top of the water requirements, dam that would take one hell of a reservoir if a drip system was being used, this is the kinda shit that should be done on farmland with water on tap.

I bought that lil honda pump today and man that thing is sweeeeet! It's a lil loud at full speed but today I filled a 50 gal drum, put 100' of water hose on my pump, ran it at idle and it pumped that drum out in bout three minutes. Not too bad! Not sure but I think I could idle for about an hour on a tank of gas and maybe pump about 600-800 gal in that time. Not positive on that but probably something in that ballpark. Be better at slow speed anyway cause more would soak in and less would run off. I gave $340 for it (out tha door) I think it was money well spent

 

[BigTex]