Watering System for Single or Multiple Garden Beds
Having a drip irrigation watering system is an easy way to water the garden and keep your plants happy through the summer. Last year when Tony and I moved back to Texas, Tony started building our trusty raised gardening beds. We have used this style of gardening for years and always had good success. The difference between our previous gardens in Montana, is that Texas is down right hot and dry during the summers. Montana may be dry, but we would enjoy an evening summer rain shower, sometimes even several times a week.
One thing Tony and I both agree on is that hand watering our garden every morning and evening isn’t the most enjoyable of chores. We have so many other projects that need attention, standing in the garden for an hour just isn’t the best use of our time. The solution was to build a watering system for the raised beds and it is a good thing Tony did. Last summer In our part of Texas we went almost 2 months without any rain. Luckily with our drip irrigation system the plants stayed alive and some continued to produce into the fall.
Over the winter we disassembled most of the watering system so that we could amend the soil and plant a winter garden. So far this spring we have had plenty of rain and haven’t really needed the drip irrigation watering system set up….that is until now. It has been hitting the 90 degree temps and there is little rain in sight, so today we spent a bit of time reassembling the system so we can water hands free again.
Our version of a DIY drip irrigation watering system
This isn’t quite a step-by-step guide since we already had it partially installed from last year, but I hope it can give you some ideas and point you in the right direction on how to build your own watering system. We have 3 beds connected to the same system, so we use multiple ball valves in order to open or close the water off to each bed. We also custom drill the holes which allows each plant to be watered without wasting water on unnecessary areas. I am not going to lie, this is not the prettiest thing in the world. We also had some changes we made (which explains the capped off tees in the photos), but it sure does work well!
Here is a basic guide on how we built our drip irrigation watering system so we can keep the garden watered all summer long
Supplies:
- 1/2 PVC pipes long enough to fit your raised beds in length, plus extra for horizontal pieces
- 1/2″ Tees
- 1/2″ Couplings
- 1/2″ Elbows
- Blue PVC Glue
- PVC Pipe Cutters
- Plumbers Tape
- PVC Ball Valves
- 3/4″ Metal Elbow (water hose should fit to this)
- 2 Way Hose Connector
- Reducing Female PVC Adaptor 1/2″ x 3/4″
- Drill
- Drill Bit
- Metal Conduit Straps
Instructions:
- Measure and determine how many rows of PVC you will want in your garden bed. I like to have 1 piece between each row of plants so each plant can be watered evenly
- Lay out the PVC lengths in the place you will want them
- Put together the water intake. We used a 2 way hose connector that has two shutoffs. We did this so we could have the water coming in, the water going to the PVC water system, or to a hose so we could water other plants nearby.
- Attach metal elbow to 2 way hose connector using plumbers tape. Attach the reducing female adapter to 2 way hose connector using plumbers tape. (hint- if you haven’t used plumbers tape before, be sure to apply clockwise to prevent it unwinding)
- Use blue glue to attach the reducing female adapter to 1/2″ pipe, then to PVC elbow.
- Glue a piece of PVC to the elbow and attach a ball valve into the main horizontal line. This will allow you to shut off the water if choose to do so. We have multiple shut off valves since this is connected to 3 beds. This way we can shut off one bed, and water the other.
- Measure and a cut a piece of PVC that will get you near the center of the bed, attach a Tee, then place a ball valve vertically in the bed. (The reason we did this is so we can have the water carry through to the next bed and skipping beds as needed- if you only have one bed, you will not need this “sub system”)
- Attach the valve to another Tee that goes horizontally across the bed
- Build the horizontal sub system by measuring distance to your PVC length that is laid out, allow room for the fitting, then cut to correct length
- Attach the cut PVC length to a 1/2″ Tees and 90 degree elbows using the blue glue
- Connect the vertical lengths to the sub system
- Continue the main PVC line to edge of bed, then connect elbows to go down and then across to next bed. Repeat the process.
- Once you get to your last bed, you should not need the “sub system” and can use a ball valve in the main line to shut off the raised bed it is controlling
- Once complete with the front side, go to the back and connect all the PVC lengths with tees and elbows to make a continues loop
- Place metal conduit straps onto the main line and screw into wood to keep them in place
- Using the drill bit, drill holes in the vertical lengths. Make sure you use a small drill bit (such as 1/32″) and try not to angle the drill. I suggest turning the water on and testing the first few holes to make sure the angle and size are accurate for your setup. The holes should be drilled facing the plant, on either side of the stem. This will allow water to get on both sides of the plant. On the interior PVC length you may need to drill holes on both sides of the pipe so that all plants are reached.
Notes:
- If you are starting to build your beds, you can run lengths of PVC at the bottom of the bed. You can attached a shut off between the top and bottom as well. We only use this for tomatoes.
- In our photos we have capped off Tee pieces, these are from a previous version of the project. You do not need these!
- If you want to paint the PVC pipes, I suggest you do this prior installing in the raised beds.
