[handieman]

A year ago I couldn't spell mini-irrigation and now I'm a firm believer in it. I am by no means an expert, but here is my experience.

Normal irrigation is from sprinkler heads that broadcast a pattern of water over a wide area such as your lawn, and that is fine. However it is not sufficient to provide enough water for some plants and new palms, in some cases. This is especially true when we are on water rationing.

So, what to do?? Many options are available, and I'll share my small scenario. Inside the fence of a patio villa are many sprinkler heads that broadcast over the shrubs and flowers. I took a centrally located sprinkler head off its main line (just dig down and unscrew it) and changed it to a 12 outlet drip system. A drip system comes in many outlet sizes and flow amounts. I then ran the 12 outputs via small black flexible hose ( comes in the kit) to the various flowers and shrubs directly at the base of the plant. This way i now know what amount of water is getting to each and every plant. In the case of the Palm tree, I ran 4 lines of the 12, every 90 degrees around the root ball so that it would get fully watered

All or any one of the sprinkler heads can be adapted to this method via a kit available at the home centers. Some good points to this are, it is usually not subject to water restrictions (check this out) and I feel I get maximum bang for my water bill buck by directing the water precisely where it's needed

I love this system so much I was thinking of getting into the business as a part time job, then again it's easier to say than to install on a hot summer day

I hope this helped

Handie :joke:

Next week, I'll show you my home made automatic liquid fertilizer system. Don't be late for class (Watering 101)