[Ruyboy]

Hello
I live in the south of France where the weather is very warm (hot) and dry. We have this very big vegetable garden. And last year it was very dry summer and the our water system was very poor. And the plants looked very thirsty!! What could be the best water system I could have in my vegetable Garden? ( We have a well where we pump water all summer).

Regards 

[zazen999]

You might find a photo and some info on aspect/orientation/soil type etc might assist in any replies.

What DID you use last year? Anything at all?

[Kristen]

I find irrigation systems difficult because of plant space and the need to move everything around each year; plus I do't plant in rows, but rather "blocks" as I have raised beds.

I hate using an oscillating sprinkler because of the amount of water than falls where there are no plants, but I do have a very sophisticated oscillating sprinkler (can adjust the width of the "throw" and also the outward facing angle of the jets (for narrower pattern).


http://www.gardena.com/opencms/opencms/UK/en/products/Product/index.html?html=true&prod=4078500197502#

(Blurb says: Steplessly adjustable range: 7 m - max. 21 m. Adjustable width of spray: 4 m - max. 17 m. Mine is a different model that includes a timer. Horrifically expensive, but my local garden centre kindly honoured the incorrect price they had stuck on it )

Either way, best to have a timer so you don't forget you've left the water on. I have a simple clockwork one - but there are sophisticated ones that can do the watering to a schedule, unattended, even including several separate "zones schedules"


http://www.gardena.com/opencms/opencms/UK/en/products/Product/index.html?cat=PK410&scat=PK41005&prod=4078500119801&bls=0
" fully automatic control of up to 6 watering channels when used in conjunction with GARDENA Water Computer C 1060"

I have considered leaky/seep hose for rows (particularly hedges!), and I have used 1" or slightly larger "lay flat tubing" (the sort of thing that fluorescent tube lights are "wrapped" in) - comes in black too - and route it around the plants and then perforate with a pin a couple of times at each plant - better if it is perforated "underneath". (Don't get large diameter hoping to equalise the pressure, it takes more time to fill and doesn't seem to do that job, but if the pipe is long loping it back so you can introduce water from both ends, using a "Y" junction, helps IME)

That's poor-man's equivalent of a proper irrigation system with a main pipe and narrower bore distribution pipes with little drippers on the end.
e.g.
http://www.gardena.com/opencms/opencms/UK/en/products/Productlist/index.html?cat=PK410&scat=PK41010

It is possible to put a "bung" in the holes of the main distribution pipe, if you change your mind about layout, but I wonder how practical they are for a changing vegetable garden (rather than a flower garden with plants in permanent places). That's definitely the ideal though as it gets the water to the plant.

I also have a friend how has put perforated drainage pipe underground along his raised beds. These would provide drainage, ordinarily, but his bath discharges into the system, providing water underground for his veg bed

Other than that mulch to keep the moisture in. Cover the soil with organic matter (e.g. straw), or some sort of plastic membrane

[Digger Tom]

 Rain 

[NigelB]

Hello
I live in the south of France where the weather is very warm (hot) and dry

Rain 

Hmmmmm. 

Interesting thread....
Not having the kind of money it takes to set up a system like the one above, (although that doesn't mean I'm not envious of it  ), my first thoughts would be to mulch as much as possible.
You can use a variety of things and an even bigger variety of stuff to do it with too. 
From carpets to cut grass, and from straw to something else rhyming with straw.... 

Might be worth a thunk. You never know.....

[mumofstig]

In greece I used to use black water pipe layed up and down the rows. It has to be punctured every couple of feet where you want them, with a little 'pip' that has its own puncture thread and a little water nozzle that you can regulate individually by hand, to allow for pressure variation along the pipe.
It was connected  to the well pump and I used to turn it on for a while in the early morning and then again at dusk. Because the water was released near to the soil there was less evaporation than using the overhead type sprayers.
The pipe was pegged down where required, but was easy to move each year if the plot layout changed.

[unconcerned]

I also have a friend how has put perforated drainage pipe underground along his raised beds. These would provide drainage, ordinarily, but his bath discharges into the system, providing water underground for his veg bed

What a cracking Idea!

[richyrich7]

Rather than irrigation would you not be better off improving the quality and depth of the soil?
More organic matter in the soil will improve it's water retention quality's, deeper dug soil will help plants search for water further below the soil surface,
Irrigation on the other hand would encourage lots of root growth  just below the surface of the soil so making them more susceptible to dry conditions.

[blackbob]

Rather than irrigation would you not be better off improving the quality and depth of the soil?
More organic matter in the soil will improve it's water retention quality's, deeper dug soil will help plants search for water further below the soil surface,
Irrigation on the other hand would encourage lots of root growth  just below the surface of the soil so making them more susceptible to dry conditions.

ditto,muck muck muck and more muck.topped off with a good mulch.

[Swing Swang]

What do your neighbours do? They'll probably have solved the problem for you, using local knowledge and materials, and it's likely to be the cheapest option too.

Based on my experience of smallholders in Portugal I've seen irrigation channels used to great effect. This requires a fairly flat plot (or else you need to sub-divide your plot into a series of flat terraces) with an irrigation channel up the side of each row of crops (which I'll call the 'crop channel') with a larger channel that runs perpendicular to the channels along one side of the plot and which joins them all up. I'll call this the 'main channel'.

If your plot isn't very flat it doesn't matter if the main channel is on a slope (infact a slight incline is probably a good idea), but each of the crop channels must be level/follow a contour.

This won't work on really free draining soil/sand.

You fill the main channel up with water. You can just pump from your well, although a cistern which is filled from the well will give you a more even flow of water which won't 'pulse' and erode your irrigation channels.

The main channel is 'blocked' along its length with a small earth dam so that the water flows  along the first 'crop channel'. Once this is full the first 'crop channel' is dammed with soil (so keeping the water in the crop channel until it soaks away into the soil along the side of the crops). The earth dam on the main channel is moved so as the expose the second 'crop channel' etc etc. The next time you need to irrigate you just work backwards so that the last irrigation channel to be flooded during the first cycle is the first one to be flooded on the second.

For the third irrigation cycle you go back to the beginning, but because of the way you've constructed all of the little earth dams they are in exactly the right place and only need 'moving' through 90 degrees.

Simple!

It's all very much easier to do than explain.

SS

[Swing Swang]

I can't find a great picture of what I'm talking about, but his might give you some idea - althought the nifty system of little dams isn't shown in this picture:



I'm wearing the hat! The other bloke is the next-door neighbour.

[corndolly]

My brother in Spain used this method , it worked very well.