SFG Drip Irrigation System Has Arrived!

The irrigation system I ordered from SFG arrived today and I can't wait to try it out! DH and I will hopefully install it tonight, and I'll let you know how it does.

Take pictures!

Yay! Can't wait to hear about it and (hopefully) see it!

Am also curious and considering it for our hot summers here. Please do let us know!

It took less than 5 minutes to set up, and most of that was spent by me searching for an appropriate hose connector (it was either find one or remove the one that was already on the hose, and run the risk of it becoming a doggie toy). Here are some photos.

This is how it looked in the package. If you listen carefully, you can hear it whisper "Resistance is futile . . . ."
In case you're wondering, those things that look like electrical tape are soaker tapes rolled up and secured by rubber bands.

Instructions are to lay it down on top of the mix, hook up to a hose, and then remove the rubber bands from the soaker tapes.

After the rubber bands are removed, turn on the hose and watch the tapes unfurl as they fill with water -- and this is the result. There are two tapes for each row across the bed.

As the photo below indicates, the tapes are a little too long for our bed. Those connectors sitting on top of the frame really need to be down on the mix. I imagine the tapes can be shortened, but there were no instructions for this included with the package.

I left the hose on for about an hour, which is recommended time for the apparatus to soak 6" deep and (if I remember correctly) 12" across, but since it was already dark outside I couldn't tell much about range of soaking. I'll post again after I get the opportunity to observe during daylight.

Hi Junequilt,

I'm interested - I've never seen anything like the pink "collars" you have around your tomato plants. Are they for the cutworms? Do they work?

Thanks
Gloria

Gloria, look above Mel's right shoulder in the logo at the top of the page-just a little different style!

If those soaker fittings are anything like the ones on my system, they should be able to release and you can cut the hose down to fit. But please wait for someone familiar with the SFG system to tell you so!

I forget the name for the red trays you see, but they are meant to increase tomato productivity. I've never found them at a price where I'd felt like giving them a try, but would like to hear more about them.

I looked up the tomato trays on the website as well as on a few other sites. Unless your plants are very small - just starting - how do you get them on? I saw a few types that had a slit, but the ones from SFG look like they're solid.

Are they also good for eggplants and peppers?

Thanks
Gloria

I bought my trays from Park Seed this spring. They cost a bit, but DH and I have spent mucho dinero in past years on tomato plants that never made it through a season, so we looked upon this as an investment in preventing soilborne disease -- which is endemic in our soil -- from hitting our tomatoes early on. The red color, which is supposed to fool the plant into thinking there are already tomatoes present thus it has to compete by bearing more and ripening sooner, was just another potential bonus. We also bought red plastic mulch and used that in two beds.

As it turned out, we were very happy with the trays and the mulch. I can't tell you that the trays or the plastic mulch were responsible for our reaping the first land-office tomato harvest we've ever had on this property, but the trays made it SO easy to water!

The trays are not hard to install if the plants are young. They're tough but not unflexible. The biggest issue I had to face was trimming the edges to fit 4 across, since they are exactly a foot square and the actual bed area of our SFGs is about 46". A pair of utility scissors did the trick.

The only other type of plant I used red plastic on was several eggplants, and they didn't do squat. I don't think that was the fault of the mulch, though; I think the plants were just duds!

We've pulled some of the trayed tomato plants because they were finished for the season, and the trays seem to be in relatively good condition. We'll probably use them again next year even though we may not need to water from them if we have drip systems set up in all the beds. They will still keep the mix beneath cool and provide a barrier between mix and plant.