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Alex, IN

Wanting to start a good discussion on the pro's and cons of both primary methods of irrigation we utilize. As well as invite any other forms that people may use.

The two go to's, Overhead and Drip.

What are your thoughts on the method you use? Why do you use one over the other? Would use use the other if you could? Do you use both?

I have used overhead for many years now being on city water. Prior to my current patch I used drip as the iron in my well water would accumulate on the leaves of my plants. I like overhead and use a whizzer sprinkler that cost me $1.75 at Menards. I like the coverage I get from the sprinkler but often wonder if its the best option for me. Considering a switch to drip this year to investigate the differences.

Lets hear from everyone your thoughts! The growing season is fast approaching and I always find this topic on my mind. Thank you all for the comments and thoughts.

Mikkal

2/11/2019 10:15:25 AM

Grittyville, WA

good post...
Hot days are not an issue when I can water overhead with 50 degree water. Disease and humidity are also not big issues at that temperature. I think if you use a source that may not be sterile for overhead, it might be good to irrigate when uv from the sun can get through. They say uv goes through clouds but Ive never gotten a sunburn on a cloudy day so my guess is neither will a disease spore. I am going to switch to flood irrigation on at least one plant. Cheap and simple. All the top growers talk about careful attention to watering. Automation makes it easy but it also makes it easy to not pay close attention to whats really going on.

2/11/2019 11:54:44 PM

Grittyville, WA

I plan to flood between the vines and around the stump but not directly contacting the vines or stump. Worked well last year. In my experience, overhead is never an option for tomatoes except prior to bloom, btw.

2/12/2019 12:03:49 AM

Morgantown, WV

I like to use both, but run mostly plain water through the drip lines, and use overhead for fertigation.

I started with the old style soaker hoses when I began growing, but never found them to last. Couple years ago I switched to commercial drip tape, and so far am happy with it. It's sometimes a little messy earlier in the season, but once the vines stretch out and lay over top, everything settles down.

I'm upgrading to a mixing tank this year that will be for fertilizing through overhead whizzers. I feel the larger droplets of the whizzers get more water to the ground than the slap style sprinklers with smaller drops. I don't have any dosage system so mix every time I want to dose, and prefer not to put it into the drip for several reasons.

The first, is that I don't want to clog my lines with a fert mix that might not have been strained well. Could do it a bunch of times well, but the one time you don't brings trouble. The second reason is biofilm buildup. A few growers last year mentioned the importance of sanitizing irrigation lines throughout the season to eliminate the nastiest that grow on residual nutrients, which I don't think has been a strong focus in the past. I feel it'll be far easier to clean a tank and short hose, over my whole drip system, and it also lets me focus the fertilizer to one plant over the other if I wish.

2/12/2019 8:15:27 AM

Morgantown, WV

Few words of note on drip irrigation that I have noticed...

It adds a lot to the startup cost of the system, but I found it very beneficial to get the connectors with shutoff valves over the plug and play connectors. This allows me to turn a zone off if I lose a plant, and also direct more flow to certain areas over others if needed. When plants are young, I can leave the center few hoses run, and just turn another one on each side as the vines grow out.

Also, gravity is a huge factor in how well your drip system will work. My faucets are not in a good location for my patch, so I have to run extra hose to the top corner of the hill, and put the pressure regulator there to gravity feed downhill after the reduction. If I place it at the bottom of the hill, the reduced pressure cannot climb the hill to fill all of the lines well. Took me a bit to figure out, so a little planning ahead of time will save you some headaches.

I run lines with 12" spacing on holes at 12" centers on lines.

2/12/2019 8:15:41 AM

Saunders County, NE

I am having trouble finding research concerning chemigation, biofilm, drip irrigation, and detrimental outcomes. Irrigation is not sterile, there will always be organisms present. I understand the concern with a closed loop hydro system and possible oxygen depletion/pathogens. I am skeptical an open end drip irrigation that is flushed with additional water after fertilizer injection ends results in meaningful issues. To me it seems similar to a water tank that is mixed with fish/seaweed/ferts. There is plenty of residual left over to harbor biofilms. Granted with much less surface area for it to adhere to. I would be very interested for outcome research articles with drip tape chemigation. I has spent too much time thinking about this without solid answers.

2/12/2019 9:15:04 AM

Saunders County, NE

I certainly believe that biofilm can clog drip emitters. But my understanding is that biofilm are sulphur and iron based bacteria. I do not have information suggesting pathogens, or growth limiting effects from biofilm secondary to chemigation in cucurbit drip systems.

2/12/2019 9:29:48 AM

NE Arkansas

I overhead water during the heat of the day to cool down my plants. I use the wizzer sprinklers from Holland's. I've had no issues with them. I use this on melons and kins.

2/12/2019 11:09:30 AM

Colorado

I use both.I like the drip tape for laying down a even grid of water.I use misting instead of sprinkler for evaporative cooling and it puts down about 50% of water the roots take up. Drip is the better way to put down water soluble fertilizer and amendments.

2/12/2019 2:45:15 PM

Midway, UT

I'm with Joe. I use both. I find by watering under the leaf canopy (Daan Micros) I can get much more even watering on the ground. With just overhead I would have large dry spots and the ground would sometimes begin to crack if I didn't hand water. Over the head is used to cool the plants down during the heat of the day.

2/12/2019 4:30:43 PM