I have 4 4'x50' raised beds. Will this product, I'm thinking one for each bed, work with a raised rain barrel as a water source? What extra parts will I need to have three lines run down each bed?
DIG long version to this question:
DIG’s ML50 raised bed drip irrigation kit uses 50 feet of our ¼ inch dripline with 9-inch spacing between the drippers. If a rain barrel is used, the system will be limited to the size of the barrel, the pressure available from the barrel and the length of the drip line. Ideally for this large system, an outlet faucet will work better with the long length of the drip line. The drip line inside the kit will use up to 33 gallons per hour per each length of 50 feet.
To have a system that can cover up to four 4 x 50-foot raised beds starting from a faucet, we recommend the following; if the system starts from a rain barrel, see limitation above:
For each of the 4-foot-wide raised beds, you can have up to three rows of vegetables with one length of dripline per each row. If you have less than three rows, use the basic layout of one line of the ¼ inch dripline per each vegetable row with spacing between the rows to be no less than 12 inches.
Due to the small diameter of the drip line, the maximum length of each line cannot be longer than 25 feet.
The list of parts needed for four 4 x 50-foot-long raised beds will include:
1. 1-ML50 raised bed kit. This kit will have all the parts to start the system for only one row of 50 feet long.
a. Installation steps: To the faucet, connect the ¾” backflow device, ¾” pressure regulator and the ¾” swivel adapter. If rain barrel is used, attached the swivel adapter only. To the swivel adapter connect the ½ inch drip tubing and lay it from the faucet along the center of the raised beds. If you need more of the ½ inch drip tubing you can buy additional lengths in 50 feet, model B35 or 100 feet, model B36.
2. To cross from bed to bed, you may need additional ½ inch elbows, DIG model C36, and you may need up to 4 elbows for the first 3 beds and 2 for the last one, for a total of 14. The kit has only 8 elbows.
3. Per each raised bed, you may need up to 150 feet of ¼ inch drip line to cover three rows. If only one row is used, then 50 feet is adequate. DIG ML-109, ¼ inch drip line with 9-inch spacing is available in 100 feet length.
4. To the ½ inch drip tubing at the center of each bed, punch a hole to the side facing the row. Insert the ¼ inch barb into the end of the ¼ inch drip line and insert the barb into the hole on the ½ inch drip tubing. Repeat per each row and per each side. Lay out the ¼ inch drip line and secure it to the ground the ¼ inch stake (included), with one stake per every 10 to 20 feet.
5. After you complete the layout, turn the water on and flush the line.
6. Close the end of each line with the plugs included, and the hose end for the ½ inch.
7. After you complete the installation, test the system to see that no leak occurs, and the system is working.
8. If you need any assistance with this project, please call our technical service team at 800.322.9146
DIG
Answered by: dl
Date published: 2018-12-17
