Drip Irrigation Benefits & Methods

There are many positive benefits to having a garden at your home. You can grow your own fruits and vegetables, get down and dirty, and have a major sense of accomplishment in the end. The most important thing for a plant is its nutrition, and it gets a large amount of it from water. That is why you need to take the time and decide on the best way to feed your garden. Micro-irrigation systems have been around a long time now and have proven that they are a very effective way to give your plants what they need.

Drip irrigation is a very popular form of feeding gardens as it is more economical than other options, and it still gets the job done. If you have never used an irrigation system in your garden before this is the perfect place to start. With the right system installed in your garden, you will save time and energy, and you will see your garden thrive.

Continue reading to learn more drip irrigation and how it can benefit your garden.

What is Drip Irrigation?

In the simplest terms, drip irrigation is exactly what it sounds like. You have water slowly dripping down to the roots of your plants in steady doses. It consists of a hose laid strategically across your garden beds that slowly have water drip out through condensation, or through other methods. With drip irrigation, you can be certain that your garden will always get the right amount of water that it needs.

Hose Drip Method

The hose drip method, or soaker hose, is the most basic and inexpensive way to send water directly to the roots of your plants. It consists of an insulated hose line throughout the garden that will continuously ‘sweat’ water out due to the temperature inside. This water feeds directly downwards where the roots of your plants will lap it up. It is not the most efficient form of irrigation, but it works very well on a small budget.

Sprinkler Method

You can also purchase very similar hoses that have sprinklers built right in. This type of system can give your plants nutrients in two different ways. Since we are talking about drip systems, we will focus on that aspect. With most of these hoses, you can simply turn them upside down and let the sprinkler spray, or mist, shoot directly into the ground for the plants to feed from. A sprinkler system might be a slightly more expensive option, but its dual-use and overall efficiency are well worth the extra cost.

Benefits of Drip Irrigation

There are many benefits to adding a drip irrigation system to your garden. The savings in manpower alone will be very appealing to most gardeners. With a drip irrigation system you will see the following:

  • Better plant growth
  • More efficient water use
  • Savings in time and energy
  • Ability to change things easily
  • Staves off weeds and fungi

For just a small investment, in the long run, you can provide your garden with all of these great benefits. Not to mention you can sit in the shade more often to relax. Drip irrigation really is the way to go if you have a garden with any amount of size to it.

Irrigation Proves Effective

No matter the size of your home gardening project, your plants are going to need a consistent stream of water and nutrients to survive. Unless you really enjoy all the bending and grunting of watering a garden all the time, an irrigation system will be well-needed. As you can tell, there are many benefits to choosing a drip system with just minor costs, so think before you water. A drip irrigation system may be exactly what you have been looking for.