easy watering setup

[SheilaJ]

Wow, I'm in awe of what you've got set up there!. Not handy at all myself.

[Ocelaris]

That's a great set up. I am setting up something similar, using a high pressure pump, similar to what they use for RVs. May or may not be the same thing you have, but I wanted to ask if you knew if you had to pressurize a tank, or if you could just use the pump straight to the hose lines?

Reason I ask is I am going to run a recirculation system and reuse the water for a few days before replacing it, and I'd rather not have a pressurized tank of water that might have mold etc... inside. So I plan on running the pump on a couple times a day for 5 minutes or so. They're all vandas at this time, so need thorough soaking, and then need to dry off.

Could you elaborate on how you picked a drip emitter or a sprayer? I have right now all sprayers, and I would think a drip emitter would just literally, drip, and only make one part wet, not getting the whole root system. I'm thinking of mounted plants mainly...

The pump I got is rated at 60PSI, 4GPM, but I plan on reducing the pressure to 30PSI or so for the sprayers.

Great job, I'll try to post pics when I get mine going, which is still a long way off beacuse I don't even have the tank complete!

[dennis]

you dont have to have the tank it will work fine with out it as the pump builds enough pressure fairly quick. i do like the tank with the solenoid set up so when the timer kicks on it is instant on and off, with out the solenoid it takes around 4 minutes for the pressure to drop and you end up going thru alot of water. the emitters i am using are all pressure compensating so that they do not start watering till the pressure builds up high enough in the lines gives a more even watering thru out the complete setup. o have a wide variety of sprayers and emitters and the misters it all depends on what is being watered, i have some down sprayers for some of the bigger potted plants like the geraniums and some adjustable sprayers in my birds of paradise and bougenvillias, the drip emitters are all setup in the potted phals and paphs and the misters do the vandas. the emitters are all pressure compensating so none of them start till the pressure builds enough in the lines to activate them it makes a more even watering from one end to the other. i di some reading on them and figured that at 30 cents for the emitters and a little over a dollar for the sprayers and misters i would not be out much if i was wrong. one thing i am going to change this coming year is i am going to run 1/2 inch pvc and get all threaded fittings and drill and tap them into the pvc i think it will make a neater looking set up than the flexible line and it will hold up to the pressure better, with this way i am planning on running it back to the outside so i can use it on anything i set outside for the summer and still not have to fumble around in the dark at 3:30 in the morning. as far as sprayers go you can also use oil furnace nozzels these come in different spray patterns and have a built in filter to keep them from getting clogged. they run around 6 dollars each i think. any other questions let me know i am glad to help out