Sprinkler conversion question?

[jk60]

I have recently planted roses in a section of my backyard where there are Toro 570 type pop-up sprinklers. I would like to avoid getting the rose leaves wet and would like to convert some of the sprinklers to drip irrigation. Is there a way to accomplish this by somehow tying in to the existing sprinkler system?

Thank you,

Jerry

[Gary Swart]

If you mean you want to mix the pop-ups and the drip, that won't be satisfactory. The drip needs more time than the pop-ups. Just a suggestion, but I have a rose bed with 24 bushes that I irrigate with spray type heads. It does of course wet the leaves, but I time the irrigation cycles to irrigate in the very early AM to conserve water and to give the rose leaves a chance to dry fairly quickly. I have no problems with my plants doing this.

[jk60]

Thank you for your suggestion. I did want to mix the pop-ups with the drip, but I can see now that they operate within a different time frame. I can convert this one zone where the roses are, to strictly drip irrigation, if that's possible? Are there any other options that would be suited to deep watering of the roses? I live in a frequently foggy area in San Francisco and the leaves in weather like this do not dry very fast.

Thank you,

Jerry

[Gary Swart]

For your climate/area I think the drip is the way to go. I live in the Yakima Valley of central Washington which is semi desert, so what I can do won't work for you.

[jimbo]

Both Toro and Rainbird make a drip adapter to replace the top of a regular head. The issue of mixing drip with sprinklers is an important concept, that of watering time. Drip calls generally for several multiples of the minutes that you would have the grass or garden sprinklers on. The way to balance this out is with more drip. If you put on a few of these adapter heads and use as many emitters as the number of tubes you have will reasonably support, it is still possible to get an appropriate amnout of water to an area in a small time.

This is not the way to design a system from the get go, but is a legitimate and valuable method to accomplish a desired outcome without completely digging up the whole yard. Go for it.

[prashster]

I got into trouble mixing heads on a single zone. I was using spray with rotor heads. I ended up overwatering the area covered by the spray heads and killed a tree. and 2 shrubs.

I imagine your roses are more sensitive than that.

If it were me, I'd add a new zone that is dedicated to drip. If that's beyond yr ability or budget, you can get a battery timer and faucet diverter and use an external hose bib as the 'drip zone'. Check: www.dripworks.com

[jk60]

I am going to look for the Toro drip adapter. That sounds like an easy fix. I can see where mixing drip with sprinklers can create a problem, but I have 4 separate zones in the backyard and can convert just one of them, the one where the roses are, to a strictly drip system.

Thank you everyone for your advice!!!

Jerry

[hj]

Drip systems should have a filter and pressure regulator to keep them working properly. The Toro adapter may have them built in, other wise you should install them at the valve for the converted zone.

[speedbump]

Have you thought of using Micro Jets. That's what I use on my palm trees.
bob...

[jk60]

I am not familiar with Micro Jets. Maybe I missed it, but I also couldn't find any information on Micro Jets in the website you provided. What should I look under?

Thanks,

Jerry

[speedbump]

I didn't have much luck with Google either. I buy them from a company called Florida Irrigation. They are an irrigation wholesaler. What you do is, run Poly pipe (60 to 80 psi) past whatever you want to get wet. Then you punch a hole in the Poly with a tool, you push a little barb fitting into the hole with a 1/4" rubber tube about 18" long attached. On the other end of the tube is the microjet. They can be bought in different degrees of spray patterns and different gallonages. I think they start out at 2 gallon per hour. There is also a stake that you stick in the ground in front of what you want to water and push the tube/microjet into a socket that holds it in place.

bob...