Ultra cheap and easy irrigation system using an old garden hose

[Annette]

Today we have just installed a super cheap irrigation system in our raised vegie bed using lengths of an old garden hose and a few plastic elbow and T-joints etc.

We cut the hose to the desired lengths, clamped the ends and drilled the holes along the hose with a 2mm drill bit at 100mm distances. We then attached the elbow and T-joints and attached the system to the edge of the raised garden bed. The raised bed is 4ft x 8ft so along the long side we placed each length of hose 1 foot in from the edge which gives us the perfect coverage of the whole bed. It took us about 30-45 minutes.

The total cost was under $10 and it works like a charm so we are now going to install another one in the other raised bed. This will now cut down on watering time, save us on water bills but it will also water the vegies at the base of the plants instead of on the leaves reducing the chance of fungal growth.

We had considered using poly pipe or PVC pipe but had the surplus garden hose anyway so we thought we would give it a go. 

Any suggestion to improve on this design would be more than welcome. 

[Jackson]

@Annette - I'm no gardening expert so can't offer any advice but I wanted to jump in and say that it looks like you've done a great job!

[Annette]

Thank you @Jackson - much appreciated. Not bad for our first go.

[Andy_Mann]

@Annette, I feel really awkward that I've learnt so much from your innovative/resourceful posts, & haven't donated.

Thanks for sharing, you're a Workshop darling.

[Annette]

Thanks @Andy_Mann - greatly appreciated but I have also learnt so much from the Workshop forum so it's a two way street.

[bergs]

Annette,
What a great way to recycle old hose.
I've been contemplating the same sort of system for sometime now, but I keep rearranging my beds, so I will have to wait until I'm happy with them and then put in a more permanent watering system.
Your system is by far a cheap and easy way to go.
Well done!
I have plenty of polypipe and old hose as well.
It's great that you can now water from ground level without getting the upper foliage wet. That will be great for your tomatoes. All you need is a timer to set and forget, which will give you more time to do other gardening jobs or other pastimes.

Cheers🍻bergs

[Annette]

Thanks @bergs

We were so encouraged by the success of this system in the other bed that yesterday we installed another one in another raised bed. This bed is split into two long sections along the back fence and one section is 4" lower than the higher section due to the fall on our block which is about 8ft from the front of the block to the rear of the block. For the hose along the higher section we drilled holes at 100mm distances all the way through and placed it down the centre of the bed and on the lower section we placed the hose along the back edge of the bed next to the fence because that bed is actually narrower than the higher section. We then only drilled one side of the hose to water just the bed and not the colour-bond fence  To connect the two hoses we used a small section of hose and placed it at an angle as shown in the last photo.

We are yet to put in a timer so we currently have to manually change the hose over to each system as they are not yet connected. Even so, the added bonus is that we don't have to stand there watering for 30 - 60 minutes because even at the coolest time of the day in the height of Summer we are sweating buckets because of the sun bouncing off the metal garden shed, the back of the metal carport and the pavers. We can also get on with other stuff while it is watering the vegies.

By the way, can anyone please tell me what the silver brackets are called?

[Andy_Mann]

@Annette, your set up is amazing,  especially for tomatoes.

To answer you question, Bunnings list them in Plumbing Tools, under Pipe Clips, & call them Pipe Saddle Clips.

Your galvanised pipe clamps

I had a stab at finding it in the Bunnings search box, but had to resort to Google images, & fluster around until I found Bunnings' Google image listing, then reverse tracked it to their web site.

Honestly, if you don't know the name of something, Bunnings' On line web site, is next to useless.

To highlight the deficiencies of the Bunnings search box, the other day I wanted to copy their listing of Isopropyl Alcohol, & paste the link here. Unbelievably, it was listed under Metholated Spirits. 

[Brad]

Saddle clamps was what we used to call them. AKA as Saddle Clips now.

[Andy_Mann]

@Brad, Saddle Clamps it is mate, I didn't think the other names were what I knew them as, so once again, thanks for bringing the goods.