Best way to water small greenhouse

joeschuler1984

Hello. My dad has a small greenhouse he would like to set up to be watered automatically. He asked for my help finding the best way because he has vision problems that prevent him from researching on his own. We would like an adjustable timer and the stake style drip system I think but any advice or recommendations would be appreciated. Thank you.

Fairygirl

Hi @joeschuler1984 - are the plants all grown in the ground, or are they in pots? That could make a difference to the solution.
If in the ground, it will be easier, as you can just use a hosepipe with holes in it, and there are lots of timers readily available for attaching to the tap, or the stake,  at the other end. Your dad may need help with the timer though, so that might be the hardest bit to source. 
If in pots, you may need something more specific. 
Not something I've ever done, but there are people on the forum who use irrigation systems, and I'm sure they would be able to help 

steephill

Hozelock and Gardena are probably the two most common suppliers you will find. Both sell kits and all the individual parts to enable the build of any custom system you want. They are all very similar in design with a larger diameter tube which goes round the greenhouse and smaller tubes which tap into it to provide watering points. These are tipped with a variety of drippers, some adjustable and some constant rate. There are also mini sprinklers available. Personally I find the variable ones very useful as you can fully close them if not needed to save water.

When connecting the various sections of larger tube together reinforce the joints by using hose clips like jubilee clips. The tubing gets soft in the heat of a greenhouse and joints can blow apart under pressure. The push fit between the tubes and connectors isn't that secure as standard.

How will you get water into the greenhouse? You need to find a way to feed in a hose either going under the ground or replacing a glass pane with a solid panel you can cut an access hole through.

Think about where you will place the timer. The timer usually goes on the mains pressure side often directly mounted to the outside tap. The kits have a pressure reducer which fits between the mains pressure supply side and the low pressure distribution tube so you could either feed main pressure water into the greenhouse then reduce the pressure or reduce it outside and feed in a reduced pressure supply.

You mention vision problems so be aware that many of the timers have small screens for programming the timing which might be hard to use. There are lots of different timers available though including simple ones with dials rather than screens and buttons.

joeschuler1984

Thank you very much this was very helpful. I've been looking at the hozelock kits and also think I've found some timers with larger displays. One concern I have is if there is a way (maybe part of the kit) to make sure the plants at the end of a line get the same water as the ones at the beginning. Or is this not a problem with this type of setup?

steephill

I haven't had any problem with my system which goes round 3 sides of my 8x8ft greenhouse. I used to have a similar dripper system which fed hanging baskets on 3 sides of our house with a total length of about 60ft again without any problem.

joeschuler1984

Awesome. Do you have a hozelock or gardena? 

steephill

Both, I started with a Hozelock kit and have added bits from Gardena over the years.