Drip Irrigation of Fruit Trees (forum)

Kaye starts with ...
I have purchased and established a number of dwarf fruit trees from Daleys. I have established them using the water tube system. Now I want to move to a gravity fed drip system from a rainwater tank; the head tank is about 30m away with a 1:5 drop so the pressure is quite good.

I have a few questions: how many drippers do I use per tree and how far apart do I space them? Do I need an in-line water filter? What problems should I watch out for?

Cheers, Kaye

Time: 14th August 2009 8:58am

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About the Author Kaye2
Moruya NSW
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amanda says...
Hi Kaye - u should use a filter - u can get in-line filters from reticulation shops (go to a specialist shop - not bunnings etc - they will know exactly what u need)..the filters are not expensive and will save a lot of hassel down the track.

If u get pressure compensated Netafim dripper line - then u will get even distribution of the water from every dripper to every tree - right to the last tree. Once again - I would talk to the specialists - as it is gravity fed I am not sure if the line would work.

I used about 1.5m of dripper line per tree - with 2L/hr drippers - just multiply the No. of outlets by the volume (eg if 1m of line has 10 2L/hr drippers then u will b delivering 20L per hour to each tree)

You may need to make sure u have a closed loop system (ie: no dead ends in the retic pipe) - one of the big problems with retic is pressure - making sure the tree at the end is getting the same amount of water as the one at the beginning..as pressure drops off along the line. A bigger main line will help overcome this.

I would really recommend that u go into a retic shop tho'... :)

Time: 14th August 2009 9:30am

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About the Author amanda19
Geraldton. WA
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Jimmy says...
For a no brainer solution by the tube with drippers built in at 50cm spacings, then just run a circle about the same size as the dripline of the tree and all seems to work out well.

Time: 14th August 2009 2:52pm

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rickywatson1 says...
As my opinion you need an in-line water filter for maintenance. 1.5m To 1.6 m of dripper line per tree is ok.

Time: 23rd May 2014 2:05pm

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About the Author rickywatson1
MOUNT HAWTHORN,6016,WA
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