Drip irrigation question

[Muse]

I am going out of town for almost two weeks shortly. My kabocha squash and tomatoes are looking haggard, the leaves and 1/2 dried out, but lots of fruit maturing on the vines. I normally have good tomatoes almost to the end of the year. I figure the kabochas will be better/sweeter if allowed to sit on reasonably healthy vines as long as possible. I want the tomato plants to be as healthy as possible to allow fruit to continue to grow and mature.

So my question: I just bought an Orbit timer:

https://www.amazon.com/Orbit-56862-...F8&qid=1471268250&sr=8-1&keywords=orbit+timer
I also bought this Rain Bird GRDNERKIT Drip Irrigation Gardener's Drip Kit:

https://www.amazon.com/Rain-Bird-GR...&sr=1-1&keywords=rainbird+drip+irrigation+kit

The kit includes a pressure regulator. I am worried that the timer will crap out due to the high water pressure here, which is around 95psi.

Yesterday, I worked out a quick-and-dirty install, very simple just using their 50' coil with emitters every 18 inches. If I had more time or I wanted to set up something to last for months instead of a couple of weeks I would do something more sophisticated.

Here's the question: Can I put the pressure regulator right at my faucet on the outside of the house and then attach the timer to that? That would keep the water pressure entering the timer around 25-30psi. The instructions don't include a timer. I was going to attach their system to the timer but figure I can put their pressure regulator before the timer. Am I right in this?

Ultimately I want to install a pressure regulator at my water service's entry to the house, but that will have to wait.

 

[NetWareHead]

Not sure I understand what you are exactly asking. If the regulator can screw to the outdoor faucet and then timer an screw to the that, you should be good.

I was going to caution about the issues with over-watering tomatoes. You are experimenting with a new watering technique which behaves differently and has different visual indicators than traditional irrigation. You may inadvertantly overwater as you get a feel for the system. Overwatered tomatoes split and are prone to blossom end rotting (calcium deficiency in the soil caused by excess water washing this mineral away). Spray some rot-stop or other calcium supplement. I just did after an enormous rainfall even if my tomatoes look fine. Nothing worse than vine ripening your tomatoes and all of them get affected by blossom end rot...

 

[Muse]

interesting... I always plant 6 Early Girl tomatoes from tiny seedlings in a plot about 18" x 10' and this year the southern-most plant has a LOT of BERot. The other plants, I haven't seen any. Recent years I see a lot of BER, didn't know why. I heard it signifies "uneven watering." This year I've been watering them a LOT! Not uneven, just daily watering, sometimes 2x/day. I'm sure this is overdoing it. The kabochas got even more water, a ton, usually 2x/day. I hate to see the plants wilting, it's mainly the parts that stretch out over my concrete patio that wilt a whole lot unless the root zone is pretty saturated with water.

Yeah, I guess having the pressure reducing fitting BEFORE the timer shouldn't screw anything up and should protect the timer, the whole idea why I posted this thread. Figured I should ask, I've never done drip watering, have always hand-watered with a hose, generally trying to keep the foliage dry.

I did notice a LOT of powdery mildew on the tomatoes (I always get this on the kabochas, but usually very little on the tomatoes), noticed it about a week ago and sprayed all 6 plants thoroughly with baking soda solution. It seems to have gotten the mildew in check. Did wonders for keeping the kabochas alive this year, but they are at the point where 1/2 the foliage is dry and dead, and there's not much vibrant new growth going on, so it hardly matters.

 

[NetWareHead]

Use a copper solution as a fungicide (copper sulfate) for battling mildew. Works very well but washes off easily. Needs frequent spraying. Although this year I am growing squash that is surprisingly resilient to mildew and Im loving the non-effort. All these years Ive been hesitant to plant squash/zucchini bc the fungus gets out of control and destroys the leaves.

 

[Muse]

Actually, I bought this over a year ago:

CuPRO 5000 Fungicide/Bactericide 3lb Dry Flowable Copper Hydroxide 61.3% Generic Kocide, it's this:

https://www.amazon.com/Fungicide-Bactericide-Flowable-Hydroxide-Generic/product-reviews/B008ITVY5U/ref=cm_cr_dp_see_all_btm?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1&sortBy=bySubmissionDateDescending

I also bought a large amount of sulfur. However I haven't used either, mostly/partly because I was in a hurry and didn't want to research the safety/environmental issues in using chemicals. Baking soda is relatively neutral as far as toxicity is concerned, I figured. Yes, it only slows the onslaught of fungal death to the plants, however I discovered this year that if you use it often enough and cover well (2T per gallon of water in a pressurized spreader), it is pretty effective.

I have all that copper and sulfur in unopened packages! Maybe next year I'll try them.

It is sad to see the demise of squash plants as the season progresses, but the robust lush growth in the earlier phases is so momentous, so beautiful, it's worth it. Then, of course, I have all those squash, which last me through the winter. In fact, I still have one 2 pounder and a couple of baseball sized from last year. I have canned a lot of squash, too. Straight and a fabulous soup. Gallons and gallons.

 

[NutBucket]

95 isn't that high IMHO. Figure you want the regulated pressure to be about 70. And, usually you want outdoor spigots to be unregulated anyway. At my in-laws city pressure was about 140. Turns out their regulator has been broken for years so all the fixtures were seeing full pressure. Luckily, no real problems aside from a toilet valve that seemed to need replacing rather frequently.

Point being, the timer will be fine with 95 psi.

 

[3chordcharlie]

The timer will be fine with 95psi, but you can put the regulator between tap and timer as long as the threads are correct.
Definitely pay attention to the GPM rating on the emitters and adjust your watering accordingly. The good news is there is no spray or wetting of leaves at all with drip irrigation.

 

[Muse]

The timer will be fine with 95psi, but you can put the regulator between tap and timer as long as the threads are correct.
Definitely pay attention to the GPM rating on the emitters and adjust your watering accordingly. The good news is there is no spray or wetting of leaves at all with drip irrigation.

GPM is said to be 0.9gal/hour/emitter. I figure 1/2 hour twice a day is plenty, maybe more than enough. I think maybe 15-20 minutes will be sufficient based on the condition of the plants. Some of the emitters (4-5) are above the concrete patio between the two plots and I figure to place some large planters beneath those. If some water gets on the concrete no big deal. Proper way to do it is to run 1/4" tubing to the pots, but I'm not going to bother with that right now. It's just quick and dirty. I might change my mind, I have a few days to play with it.

 

[3chordcharlie]

GPM is said to be 0.9gal/hour/emitter. I figure 1/2 hour twice a day is plenty, maybe more than enough. I think maybe 15-20 minutes will be sufficient based on the condition of the plants. Some of the emitters (4-5) are above the concrete patio between the two plots and I figure to place some large planters beneath those. If some water gets on the concrete no big deal. Proper way to do it is to run 1/4" tubing to the pots, but I'm not going to bother with that right now. It's just quick and dirty. I might change my mind, I have a few days to play with it.

Around your patio, the system will be a lot neater if you use blank tubing (without emitters, it looks like your kit includes some) where you don't want water, and then add emitters where you do want water, although you will spend a little time setting it up. This type of irrigation is almost as easy as LEGO so it usually does not take too long to set up nicely.