sub soil watering systems

Discussion in 'Planting, growing, nurturing Plants' started by bill, Mar 28, 2007.

  1. bill

    bill Junior Member

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    Hi all - I saw in a recent magazine (earth garden, grass roots, or the like... i can't remember) a system whereby a slotted pipe is buried, sitting on a plastic membrane, in vege garden subsoil. There was an elbow join and extension leading to an outlet above the surface at the "head" of the bed. You water in the outlet pipe to create a perched water table on the membrane (at about 50 - 70cm I believe). Has anyone tried similar systems with good effect? I think it will encourge root rot but it is an intriquing idea. I also think you would need some surface irrigation as well.
     
  2. SueinWA

    SueinWA Junior Member

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    It's just my personal opinion, but it doesn't seem sound to me.

    If you wanted to try something, why not drip irrigation? A lot of small commercial growers here in the U.S. are happy with info and materials from Dripworks. They say their methods don't clog up with the minerals in the water like most do. Maybe the site could give you some ideas.

    https://www.dripworksusa.com/

    Sue
     
  3. bill

    bill Junior Member

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    thanks Sue - I will use trickle as surface irrigation. The system i saw in the article was underground.
     
  4. janahn

    janahn Junior Member

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    watering

    a good method i have heard of is to place a porous clay pot, or many clay pots, buried in the soil, up to the lip, fill with water, then let it soak out. roots will seek out and attatch themselves to the pots, very efficient. good for small hand managed gardens.

    regards leo mahon permaculture design institute
     
  5. juhill

    juhill Junior Member

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    I have been thinking of doing the slotted pipe watering system each side of a row of fruit trees to encourage deeper roots and more drought tolerance.
    I wasn't going to put the membrane down basically what I was thinking of was similar to a septic trench.
    Just waiting for some rain to soften the concrete (soil) to dig some trenches to lay the pipe.
     
  6. nibs

    nibs Junior Member

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    yeah i read that article in grass roots, the guy who wrote the article seems to have done quite a bit of research, see the website https://waterright.com.au/.
    There is a movie that explains it aswell.

    I have build one of these sysems at home (5m x 3m bed over concrete area) and i also made my greywater feed into it so i basically never water the bed, i only just finished it so i cant report much yet but the soil is definately not soggy (gravity works the other way) my thinking is that it would promote stronger root growth down low to reach the water rather than just around the surface as some drip systems may do. i thought it was a clever idea, so i gave it a go.
     
  7. bill

    bill Junior Member

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    Thanks all - a slotted pipe was what I had in mind but the Gin Gin pictures on https://waterright.com.au/gin_gin_school.html It seems they used regular lengths of short vertical pipe. That's gotta be easier than a slotted pipe (which was what I had in mind). My beds are smaller and more self contained, so the cascade from on bed to the other they will get at Gin Gin wont happen.
     
  8. SueinWA

    SueinWA Junior Member

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    Juhill, were you planning on just digging trenches, laying the slotted pipes, then filling the trenches with soil? There is something way back in my memory that warns against this. When septic leach field drainpipes are laid, the pipes rest on top of clean gravel, and are then covered with more clean gravel, and then the gravel is covered with soil. The gravel apparently acts as a filter, and as the soil on top settles, the gravel prevents the soil from drifting down to the pipes.

    But if the pipes are buried directly in the soil, won't the movement of water flowing through and out of the pipes (even slowly) help to percolate soil INTO the pipes, eventually stopping them up with dirt?

    If you were to do this, but wrap the pipes with some kind of membrane that would keep soil out but allow water to flow slowly through, I wonder if it would help prevent the problem?

    I'm certainly not an expert on things like this, but I thought I would toss the thoughts out for consideration. I simply HATE digging just to find out it was all a waste of time and energy... :(

    Sue
     
  9. juhill

    juhill Junior Member

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    My idea was to use up what I already have....
    I was going to use old downpipes that have been laying around I think there is about 30 metres of pipe, drill holes in it on what will become the bottom, and put some road base in the trench put in the pipe, place some rubble on top and fill the trench in. I was going to make the trench 20cm deep and make a built up bed over it and plant my trees.
    I wanted to do it this way as it would get rid of some stuff that is making the place look untidy, and it wouldn't cost me a cent to do. Is it not better for me to experiment with this stuff, than to send it off to landfill?
    If you still think I will need a membrane, I have some old shadecloth from a shadehouse that got a 50ft gum tree through it.
     
  10. Tamara

    Tamara Junior Member

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  11. sweetpea

    sweetpea Junior Member

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    bill, I have underground pipes for driveway drainage, and those things fill up with roots and water does not flow freely in all directions. It will eventually flow in just a few directions. If anyone ever wants to use a tiller over them, are you going to remember where all of them are? Are the next group of people who live there going to know where they are? I like to think of myself as keeping track well, but I've lost track of some of my driveway drain lines, and it's always a surprise when suddenly the tiller gets wrapped up with one..

    For what it's worth, plastic off-gasses its chemicals, especially when being broken down quickly by microbies, and do you want those in your soil?

    If you put a drip system above your leaf mulches, not only will you be able to keep an eye on it, but you will help to break down your leaf mulches like mini compost piles, and you can see if any of the drip places have clogged up and stop working. All it takes is a few strategically lodged pieces of bug or wood stem bits and those suckers stop dead. I have lots of minerals in my soil, and those also plug everything up, sometimes in just two weeks! :)
     

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