Drip irrigation

[Beano]

Hi! I have recently had irrigation installed including multiple drip heads for my bonsai wall. How should I run it? Is slow drip for longer better at soaking pots or faster dribble for a shorter time? Unfortunately we are going away for Christmas and while I know it’s working I’m not sure my watering settings are adequate for 5 days at 30 degrees while I’m away. I’m in Adelaide. The wall is east facing and gets a half a day of sun in the morning.


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[greg27]

At a guess I'd say a slow drip for longer would be better for soaking. Luckily we don't have any crazy hot weather coming up but if you're super-paranoid I'd 10/10 recommend a wifi-enabled sprinkler controller and a webcam pointing at your trees so you can keep an eye on them and remotely trigger a water if required

[SquatJar]

i found drippers useless for bonsai soil as they only wet immediately below the dripper. The Antelco Cfd micro sprayers are what you want, they're amazing at applying an even spray across the pot.

http://antelco.com/products/sprays/agri ... -downspray

Also Wifi enabled controllers are awesome. Mine checks the temperature, wind and humidity as many times a day as I set it and adjusts water as my algorithms require. I also have it set up to a flow meter so I can check whens its running from anywhere it the world. I also have failsafes set up so if it doesnt read flow when it should be running, or is reading flow when it shouldnt be, I'll get a notification on my phone. Technology is brilliant sometimes. The only other issue I'm concerned about is blocked sprayer heads, I havent had any block yet in 2 years but I run 2-3x heads per pot just in case. The amount of water the sprayer save amazes me too. For 200+ plants I currently only use 3.5L/min. Compared to 20-40L/min when the garden hose is fully open.
I run 30s-3min cycles from 1-20x a day which equates roughly to only 2-3 showers a week in summer! In winter it only runs once a week, thats 15L per week.

[one_bonsai]

I have a dripper hose set up above my trees. Only have to run it for about five minutes to thoroughly water all the trees. Works well.

[Bougy Fan]

Always have someone go to check it is working. Tell them what time it will go on and then they can check it is working every couple of days. Then if there is a problem they can manually water rather than lose your babies.

[pyrohamish]

SquatJar, what controllers etc. are you using?

[SquatJar]

Opensprinkler is the controller I'm using

[NickJ]

I'm having trouble sourcing the CFD downsprays in SE QLD. Are there any other sprays that others are having success with?
I have considered the mist type sprays, but concerned with water on the foliage, particularly if watering during the day in the heat of summer. Is the consensus that this is a legitimate concern?
Cheers

[Beano]

Well so far my drippers are doing ok. The plants seem to be doing better than they were with my sporadic hand watering. I check them everyday to make sure nothing is going wrong. I’ve had one dripper head blow off from pressure as I had it turned way down for a very small pot but I’ve tolerated a bit more flow from it without it blowing off. That was on a really hot day so I think the flex tube was very malleable.


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[greg27]

Which dripper heads did you end up going with Beano? I'm off to Queensland in a couple of weeks so will need to get moving on my own irrigation setup.

[Beano]

I don’t know what brand but my controller is Hunter so I’m guessing it’s those. They are adjustable flow trickles - 5 drippers per head which can adjust right down to not much flow and maybe up to 10cm spread trickle if you want it that open. I can get a picture if you want.


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[SquatJar]

Can't comment on any other sprayers or drippers but can comment that water on foliage in middle of summer is very beneficial when its hot.

If you're concerned about the droplets burning leaves, its a myth. Firstly the diameter of the droplet needs to be much larger to magnify the light to a single point, the other problem with the myth is that any concentrating of light and hence heat on the leaf surface evapourates the water 100x faster than it takes to burn the leaf.

If you are worried about water on leaves promoting fungal growth, don't use misters or sprayers when the environment is already conducive. I.e. 5-20C and humid. Again, if you only use the misters when its hot (>35C) and dry the plants will love the extra cooling.

[Beano]

Ok it has more than 5 holes. The brand is shrubbler


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[one_bonsai]

If you're concerned about the droplets burning leaves, its a myth.

Very true

[AGarcia]

I'm having trouble sourcing the CFD downsprays in SE QLD. Are there any other sprays that others are having success with?
I have considered the mist type sprays, but concerned with water on the foliage, particularly if watering during the day in the heat of summer. Is the consensus that this is a legitimate concern?
Cheers

Hello. I am in se qld and bought mine online at brighton irrigation in SA. Cheap and quick delivery.