# Solar Pumps & Misting Systems



## sly22guy (May 3, 2010)

Im setting up 2 55 gallon Rain barrels up. one on each side of my greenhouse gutters. i dont have any power up there but i was thinking about some solar pumps to run a small misting system? or would a soaker hose on each row be better? i only have 4 rows. longest one is bout 60ft. other three are about 40ft. Thanks for any input.


----------



## Green Mountains (May 3, 2010)

Wow, flashback.... thought I'd stumbled into the Weed forum.


From my memory (which isn't so good these days) I recall soaker hoses working well.


----------



## Racer (May 3, 2010)

sly22guy said:


> Im setting up 2 55 gallon Rain barrels up. one on each side of my greenhouse gutters. i dont have any power up there but i was thinking about some solar pumps to run a small misting system? or would a soaker hose on each row be better? i only have 4 rows. longest one is bout 60ft. other three are about 40ft. Thanks for any input.



If your talking about grapes, don't mist them. Disease pressures love high humidity leaf surfaces. Soaker hoses would be my choice.

I just spent most of last summer digging up the backyard and installing an 850 gallon rain collection tank. I still need to purchase and plumb the irrigation tank and system. Since I garden along with grape growing in the same plot I'm going to try and put soaker hose for the veggies and drip emitters for the grapes.


----------



## sly22guy (May 3, 2010)

Yes i was referring to my grapes. Problem was i didnt really want to have a hose laying across were i mow. i guess if i use a pump with the rain barrel i can bury some pipe to each row and have a soaker hose hook to it. Is the drip irrigation better yet? i figured the drip & soaker hose would be about the same but i really dont know to much about either.


----------



## Racer (May 3, 2010)

I think you'll find soaker hose easier and cheaper to find and install. I'm trying to learn everything I can to start a vineyard in a few more years. So playing around with drip emitters now for me will pay later for the lessons learned now.

Can you set up your soaker hoses with fittings to let you connect things with a garden hose. That way you can remove the hose before you mow?


----------



## RMT (May 10, 2010)

sly22guy said:


> Yes i was referring to my grapes. Problem was i didnt really want to have a hose laying across were i mow. i guess if i use a pump with the rain barrel i can bury some pipe to each row and have a soaker hose hook to it. Is the drip irrigation better yet? i figured the drip & soaker hose would be about the same but i really dont know to much about either.



Drippers are a more expensive way to go but you can control the amount of water each vine will recieve. You can buy 1 gal 2 gal or 3 gal emitters and depending on the type of soil you have, setting your requirement, this will determine which ones to purchase and how long to run the water each time.
Depending on the age of your vines will determine the schedualing of watering. As your vines get older they require less watering not with standing the weather.

Soaker hose is good for gardens. These are what I use; drip in vineyard
soaker in garden.
___________________
Randy


----------



## sly22guy (May 10, 2010)

I think im going to go with a drip system and a solar pump step up. That way i can bury my lines and not have to move each time i mow. I have 3 40' rows with 12 vines in each row and for the amount of soaker hose id use i think i would waste more water plus with 6' in between each vine there is no sense watering that area. I just got 2 rows planted this past weekend im just using a bucket to water them for now. Hopefully in the next couple weeks ill get the greenhouse and rainbarrels set up.


----------



## RMT (May 11, 2010)

Good choice to go with drip, if your vineyard rows are on any kind of slope, you should 
make sure to get Pressure Compensating drippers, but if it is flat don't worry about it.
Good luck.


----------

