JoeReal

A farmer grower shared with me his favorite supplier of drip system supplies. It is Sprinklers, Lawn Sprinkler Systems & Irrigation Supply Store

One thing to note is that they sell drip fogger misters which I plan to use during the blistering dessicating heat wave of the summer when we routinely go over 100 deg F for weeks at times. And the bananas would go dormant and the leaves partially burnt. The solution is simple by using fogger misters which I plan to install on long poles to release fog-like droplets around the canopy area of the banana in this coming heat wave. There will be more of it, especially of this global climatic changes, so better prepared than sorry.

Here are the foggers that I bought and can be attached to 1/4" distribution PE tubes: Item 07-045 - DIG EXL Fogger with Barb, and Item 07-050 07-050 - DIG EXL Fogger 1GPH Barbed Elbow

I can't believe they only sell for $0.45 each, while normally they would cost more than $3 each at OSH or HD if you can find them.

Their adjustable drip emitters on a stake is only $0.53 each, while at HD, OSH and Ace Hardware, they are sold at least $1.99 each!

Their adjustable jet stream microsrpayer on stake are only $0.87 each while at HD and OSH, these are $2.99 each!

The barbed tee are just $0.10 each while at big box stores, these are $0.25 each!

The 1/4" distribution PE tubing, 100 ft roll are $4.94, and at OSH, they are $9.99

In other words, I ended up buying about $250 worth of drip supplies, with free complimentary shippping (free shipping for orders over $149 and if you are not from the same state, there are no sales tax to pay) to completely replace my old and worn-out drip irrigation system when I normally would have spent $1,000 worth of items when shopping from big box stores. So I've saved enough money to buy me a greenhouse, but then I really have no space for a greenhouse.

I hope you find them cheap also.
Sprinklers, Lawn Sprinkler Systems & Irrigation Supply Store

JoeReal

Some of their items are slightly more expensive than the big box stores prices, like some of the complete solenoid valves with anti-siphon and their timer controllers, but depends on model. So shop carefully too for big ticket items and compare with your local stores. But generally, their drip emitters are really cheap.

Richard

Although I don't use the micro-emitters on a stake, those are very good prices. The emitters themselves (e.g., DIG EXL Fogger) are available at my local Home Depot stores in packages of 10 for $4. If you go to a wholesale distributor like Hydroscape, you can find these emitters in bulk (several hundred) at still greater savings.

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JoeReal

You're right about the Hydroscape. Many landscapers get their supplies in bulk from them. I am not at that level of usage though. It used to be reasonably cheap at HD and OSH, but the prices of barrel of oil shot up and most of the irrigation system materials come from those barrels of oil also, and so the prices shot up as well. Any tip where we can get cheaper items would be appreciated and shared.

I am switching from point emitters to microspray for my citruses and bananas. I found out that they responded very well now that my soil has improved a lot from piling up those composted steer manure. A wider area of watering from the spray and how the soil absorbs them would be tremendously better than having several single point drip emitters. I will have to do recalculations on line capacity on these new emitters since they have higher flow rates (but adjustable), and so will shorten running time. The benefit is more soil volume interception by the roots and better growing plants.

Richard

That's correct, especially when applying water on top of mulch, using topical fertilizers, etc.

I have found that the newer 5/8 soaker hose (recycled tire rubber variety) emits quite a bit of water, spraying an area 10 or more inches each side of the hose -- when you remove the flow control disk and connect the hose in a loop. The hose is sold under both the Fiskar brand name and under the store name at Ace Hardware.

Warning: if you splice together multiple sections, use only the built-in hose couplings. If you try (chagrin) to splice using hose repair parts, the inserted fitting will increase pressure upstream and hence most of your water will be emitted in that section.

For cooling down banana plants and others tropical fruit trees, I have seen growers successfully run 1/4 inch tubing up the tree / pseudostem and place multiple foggers in situ. Of course, the water supply line needs to be out of the sun so that you are not giving them a hot shower!

Here's some photos of 5/8 inch irrigation I use in a home orchard mini-course. The first is a row of beans in the fall, the second a new grape vine in the fall, and the last two show detail of the hose parts.

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JoeReal

All of our soaker hoses in our city gets all clogged up before the summer is over. We have high mineral content in our city water. I've tried that one but doesn't suit our area very well.

For other trees, I use those self-cleaning inline emitters and they work every well even if the line is buried. Never gets clogged.

Richard

Wow! We have high mineral content here in municipal San Diego, but so far I've only had to flush out after 3 years. Sorry to hear about your situation, have you considered starting a home mineral water business?

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JoeReal

You wouldn't believe how hard our water is. We've been through a couple of overworked water softeners already. I'm planning on to get the model by Fleck which is saltless type so that I can also use them for irrigation. Our city water is from wells that are "loaded"... pH is bad too, around 8.5!

Richard

I'll believe it, but that is disgusting.

Mangal plants must be popular.

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JoeReal

I believe there used to be Mangal type plants here before humans tamed the river and the Valley for agriculture. Our city used to be a big part of a big marshland that runs through the Valley pouring into the Delta before the dams were built.

Popular fruit plants here are figs and plums or rootstocks that tolerate heavy clay sodic soils. Other natives would still be oak, endemic laurels and cacti-plants, and of course Tulle plants, salt tolerant grasses if we let them have their way.

But I am such a hard head who wouldn't want to plant what's best but to challenge the elements here and produce what they said cannot be done, so I grow bananas, citruses, blueberries along with high chill crops. I get decent crops of blueberries even with bad well water. I grew more than 355 cultivars of fruits in such a tiny residential yard, and they all produce fantastic crops. But that comes with a price called vigilance, labor and creative growing techniques.

CookieCows

Joe wanted to tell you thanks for posting that site for reasonably priced drip systems and parts. We bought two really cool systems from them that mist and drip in all sorts of ways ... cheap!! All we have to buy now are a couple of timers and we're automated!

Deb

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