Re: watering
- Subject: Re: watering
- From: "Marge Talt" m*@hort.net
- Date: Wed, 21 Aug 2002 00:04:47 -0400
Well, my report on water penetration from my little excavation.
Zilch to the sides except on the downhill end, where it penetrated
about an inch and a half. The side the water came in on is, of
course, damp, but the two long sides are absolutely dry except for a
damp film...no penetration sideways at all. Gravity wins. BTW, this
'excavation' is about 6-8" deep. It was full to the brim when I
turned the hose off; totally drained when I went to look today.
Bottom is nice and wet:-)
Marge Talt, zone 7 Maryland
mtalt@hort.net
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> From: Hal Lanktree <hlanktree@comcast.net>
>
> I use drip irrigation, and this is an issue with that as well. How
fast
> water penetrates down in to the soil, compared to how fast/far it
spreads to
> the sides depends on the soil texture. Sandier soil wets deeper
and does
> not spread as far as finer clay or silt rich soil textures. So for
sandy
> soil you apply the water at a fast rate, forcing more spread. In a
clay or
> silt rich soil you apply the water more slowly, so it penetrates
before it
> spreads too far or runs off. With drip systems, you usually have
choices
> from 0.5 gal/hour to 2 or even 5 gal/hour for each emitter. With
leaky
> black soaker hoses, the only control you have is by changing the
water
> pressure. And with age leaky black soaker hoses begin to plug up
and get
> slower and slower. The drip equipment I use I bought from
Dripworks, and
> was quit inexpensive and easy to set up. Their web site is
> http://www.dripworksusa.com/ . They offered design assistance
when I
> started. Fax them a sketch of the bed and how fast your faucet
delivers
> water (I timed filling a 5 gal pail).
>
> Hal Lanktree
> Rochester, Mi
> Sometimes zone 5b, recently more like 6b
>
> > > Marge,
> > > This is the problem I had with burying my leaky black soaker
hoses in
> > my veggie raised beds- the water didn't go sideways at all -
leaving the
> > > middle 1 foot (wide)deeply watered and the 2 foot (wide) sides
dry as
> could be.
> > > :( For me it does better laying them on top of the soil, even
though
> > you
> > > lose some water to evaporation.
> > >
> > > Marilyn Dube'
>
>
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