Mini Irrigation for my Bonsai Courtyard. Who has it?

[Pat093]

I am planning to build a Bonsai Courtyard (only small) and I am going to be running an irrigation system to keep on top of my watering in the really hot summer days that i get at home.
Just wondering who uses this and what is some advice for positioning sprayers, drippers, etc.

Pat

[kcpoole]

I have Sprayers on most of my trees and can be seen in this post here, viewtopic.php?f=29&t=1404&p=32697&hilit ... tem#p32697
these water all my trees on Benches and gardens. they come on Daily ( or twice in summer) for 5 mins to water all trees by creating a mist.
All my trees on Monkey poles have 2 sprayers on a mini tap that I regulate to just water the soil in each pot. These sparyers are machined Brass ones as they give a gentle spray, where the others are all plastic ones to give a nice Mist on all benches

They are plugged into a Manifold on the tap with 24 volt Solenoids and controlled by a electronic timer and programmed to suit

The complete system only took a day to setup and cost less than $100 or so.
My next development will be to put in water tanks and run the lot from them thru a pressure pump.

Ken

[Pat093]

Thanks Ken that helps alot. I will have mine running off a tank.
And just quick question about your preference of sprayers over drippers, what the differences?
I Like your set up too

Pat

[SteveW]

An alternate to sprays is 4mm weeper hose looped around the trunk like a halo. It requires a T join to join the ends of the ring and link to the 4mm supply line off your main supply hose. The weeper hose is easily disconnected if you want to move the tree. Trees can be rotated in situ. Suggest you pin the halo into position with a U shaped pin of wire, otherwise it can move sideways.

Advantage of the weeper hose is that it waters the entire pot without spraying water everywhere else as well. Disadvantage is that the weeper gradually blocks up over a couple of years, but it is cheap to replace. You may find it hard to find at the hardware store, but keep looking.

The 4mm plastic dripper hose is an alternate, but the drippers are too far apart (30cm), meaning you need to cut out the surplus line and use joiners to put the drippers closer together. Advantage is that these block up less than weepers, especially on tank or dam water. Disadvantage is the same as all drippers - water is not evenly distributed around the pot.

[kcpoole]

the drippers only water what is under the dripper, The water will not seep all around the pot and thus have dry spots. With sprayers less chance of that happening IMHO

Also I think just a small sprayer looks much nicer than a large dripper or weeper hose. As i mention, Only my trees on poles ( on display) have the individual sprays so want to keep the look as nice as can be

Ken

[Pat093]

yeah i think i will go with sprayers, also i think with the hot days i get at home misting the foliage is probably a good idea.
Thanks again mate. I will be posting pictures up of the area in the coming months , just gotta wait for the rents to get the back yard buldozed and ready to be landscaped.

Pat