How To Create a Gravity-Fed Drip Irrigation System - John Kaisner The Natural Farmer

www.johnkaisner.com/
When using drip irrigation to water young trees, I prefer a gravity-fed system to a pump - less cost, less noise, less risk of theft. In this video I'll show you how to create a simple system for your purposes...

[@TheTandeddu]

Love that you are also in the med and using recovered materials!

[@escapetothequinta]

We're trying this too on our channel is Portugal. Love the simplicity 🤗

[@suzyq6767]

You explained this very well. I'm sure this grandma can accomplish this watering system. Thank you.

[@rustedoakhomestead]

Short, sweet and to the point! I prefer the episode type videos personally but the quick how tos are very informative in a small package. Well done!

[@TheNaturalFarmer]

Thank you

[@LucasOliveira-fl7tt]

Awesome video! Thanks for sharing, John!

[@tworebelsoffgrid]

We absolutely love your videos and have learned so much over the years! We will be moving to a climate similar to there in Sicily, so cannot wait to implement your techniques! Happy Holidays to you and your family!

[@TheNaturalFarmer]

Thank you!

[@khavafis]

Paradisiacal spot. Great vid, no waste of time, to the point with good info. Blessings.

[@VitorMadeira]

Fantastic. I live in the Algarve (South of Portugal - weather quite similar to Sicily, I presume) and I'm trying to start my own agricultural "adventure". This video is spot on as a tremendous help for me. Thank you!

[@TheNaturalFarmer]

My pleasure. Thanks for your comment Vitor. Back when I was an architect I worked on a project in the Algarve. Beautiful place....

[@ontheplant]

Awesome hand wash station idea!! Thanks for sharing;🙏

[@laszlokalmar8762]

Thank you for this video, all my respect for you!

[@TheNaturalFarmer]

Thanks László. Good to hear from you

[@dollyperry3020]

This has been helpful. I may use the idea! Thank you!

[@TheNaturalFarmer]

Thanks Dolly. Happy to hear from you.

[@Mrsnufleupagus]

Nice system John. I am working on an irrigation system right now and this will help. Have a great day:)

[@TheNaturalFarmer]

Happy to hear it. Thanks for writing

[@wavelene7]

Great information!! 👏 Thank you for sharing!

[@TheNaturalFarmer]

You're welcome. Thank you for your kind comment.

[@aaaaaa2206]

In the 80's plumbers used hemp fiber in my country instead of teflone tape. It lasts decades.

[@TheNaturalFarmer]

Yeah exactly. It was a mistake to use teflon tape. For real plumbing I use hemp fiber as well. I made this video when I was still new to Sicily. A bit disoriented by the culture change, not yet sure where to find the correct materials. But you're absolutely right. Thanks for your comment.

[@gintautaskorinth5862]

Very useful information.

[@Low_Budget_High_Desert]

This is good info, I'm about to attempt something similar soon.

[@einsundallles]

well done nice guide - thanks a lot

[@matthewbebot5424]

Thank you!!! This was very helpfull!

[@79holdentorana]

Nice video - Thanks. I'm going to use this same design for a long hedge (about 200m). Only difference for me is I plan to put (low) star posts in the ground every 3 metres and run a tight fence wire along the top and than attach the pipe to that. This way I can mow the lawn without hitting it.

[@TheNaturalFarmer]

Nice

[@raquelsepulveda1089]

Fantastic! I am so new at farming and this was just what I needed to get up and go in a simple direction.

[@TheNaturalFarmer]

Happy to hear it. Thanks for your kind comment.

[@albiakcreations]

Great video....thank you so much.....:)

[@TheNaturalFarmer]

My pleasure. Happy you liked it.

[@ponypetedm]

I am in Cyprus and completely agree plumbers tape is a necessity it must be the temperature in the summer, ah what can you do when you live in the Med, great videos by the way just found your channel well at least KZbin gets something right.

[@ianluk11]

Very helpfull thanks!

[@TheNaturalFarmer]

:)

[@LoriLuxuryHomesMiami]

beautiful dog

[@bijoyvasudevan1861]

Nice 👏

[@jordiadr]

I usually do not press the like button. This video is a lifesaver! Can you write a list of the items you have used?

[@TheNaturalFarmer]

I live in Italy. I bought the pieces at the local supply store. I'm sorry I can't be of more help...

[@ruthilalala6553]

Thanks so much! I'm wondering if you've ever used drip tape coming off the 25mm pipe.... looking to set up a gravity-fed model for my vegetable garden - but would need to run water out into the rows and wonder if there would be enough pressure with this kind of set-up (I would elevate the water tank about 3-4feet). Thanks for your informative video!

[@M4XD4B0ZZ]

Thumbs up for the doggo

[@TheNaturalFarmer]

Yeah he's a good guy

[@gibsonsgrobot]

Awesome video, turns out I'm on the right track. Are there dippers or anything on the small line to the trees?

[@georgesabimoussa9792]

hey john, thank you for the video, i see that you have a small 1000 l tank, how much does your line of avocado require a month, and how do you refill your tank?

[@pratik3867]

This is awesome !! Great job!! Thank you very much for such an informative experiment. Yet, I couldn’t get the design around 3:00 video length. Can you provide the pictures or explain it in little details, what exactly did you do there? At that very end point of water delivery system? Please.. thank you once again.

[@stefanomoretti3664]

he is just putting a plug and using some teflon tape to have a better seal.

[@Cyara248]

Good use of the tank. How do you fill it? How often? Thank you for your videos. Learning lots and really pleasant viewing.

[@TheNaturalFarmer]

Thanks Chelle. I actually don't use this tank here anymore. Haha. But I filled it via gravity from another tank above. Rainwater. On average, for young trees in our climate, I use 7 - 10L of water/tree/week, during the dry season. Depends on the tree. I hope that answers your question.

[@Cyara248]

@@TheNaturalFarmer Still helpful, thanks. Tank to tank can efficiently spread irrigation coverage at the same time over a wider area. And only pump once to a central tank up top..... piped even to many tanks below. If you don't mind me asking.... why don't you do this now?

[@TheNaturalFarmer]

@@Cyara248 So... I have no rooftops. I also have no well. I also use no city water. I harvest water in ponds, then pump them up to decentralized tanks. I'm doing this in the dry Mediterranean. It allows me to cultivate previously useless land (which has no water rights or access). Most people find this fairly interesting. Have you seen our latest video? kzbin.info/www/bejne/e3XLdqZqj7d6mMU Where does your water come from? What climate are you in?

[@Tholius]

Two questions- I have a garden bed perhaps 20m long, planning on putting a 200L water tank on one end. 1. Do I need mini pipes coming off the main plastic pipe (as in your video) if that plastic pipe has holes drilled along its length? 2. With the holes drilled in the plastic pipe, will water drain from one end (tank) to the other (how to know if there be enough pressure?)

[@affordabledesertliving3487]

Thank you John. Do you prefer this system rather than soaker tape?

[@glendonrhoades4716]

Simple and straightforward. Thanks. Are you using any sort of filtration system to keep water sediment and algae from blocking off your lines? We are working on a similar system in which our tank is filled from a ram pump in a series of ponds below our garden. Seems the filter setup is where we're hanging up. Thanks!

[@glendonrhoades4716]

I might add we have no pressurized water on the property. House is fed by cistern and hand pump.

[@Oggiwara1]

The plumbing tape/teflon tape is very useful to have for such work. Before they used some kind of "Hemp Wool". I have used both here at home and in the house and farm in Thailand. Do you put the drip points deeper in the soil next to trees that will need deep roots due to their size when fully grown?

[@TheNaturalFarmer]

Yes I've used the wool as well, but mostly when there are 'threads' in the pipe. So about the deep roots. I have all of my trees on a swale system. kzbin.info/www/bejne/lXqyYYhuZ95kgdU This ensures that a huge amount of water is sunk deep into the ground every winter, and that the trees will create deep roots to search out this water. Otherwise, yes, using this type of surface irrigation would not promote deeper root development...

[@laurelj7588]

Thank you for all of the knowledge you share. I an in Naples Italy for the next month. Do you offer garden tours or know of others like you that do?

[@TheNaturalFarmer]

Hey Laurel I'm afraid I'm not going to be much help there. My wife and I are expecting a child any minute now, so I'm not taking visitors at this time. To be honest, I am not aware of anyone around here who is taking visitors at the moment. However, that being said, you may want to look up my friends at Villa Libertà on Panarea. You can find them on HelpX. I hope that helps. Have a nice trip and I hope you enjoy your stay!

[@laurelj7588]

Thank you and Congratulations!!! I am so happy for you. I am here Because my daughter is expecting a baby any day now. Children are such a joy. Good luck and thank you for the suggestion.

[@TheNaturalFarmer]

Oh! Fantastic! That's great news. Many prayers for each of us, that the children arrive safe and healthy. Thanks for sharing!

[@realjackofall]

I need to water around 600 tree saplings spread over 2 acres and was considering a gravity fed drip irrigation system. Do you think a 2000 litre tank placed at a height of about 8 feet would provide adequate pressure for this?

[@stefanomoretti3664]

Well done and useful John. I've never seen the capillary tubes in use. Are they easily available ? As for the main feeding tube it is - fortunately enough - black PE Poly ethylene, not PVC. The latter is way more toxic, rigid, and is generally orange or gray and used in sewage tubes.

[@TheNaturalFarmer]

Thanks for the correction...

[@emanuele19956]

Hi John, and thank you so much for your video. I am about to set up a gravity-fed irrigation system off a regular 1000l tank for my soon-to-be-planted orchard of 21 fruit trees. The trees will be laid out in a single line 110m long, on a very, very gentle slope. The tank fills up from a tiny creek catchment system I came up with. The tank is located around 1m higher than the highest of the tress, and I've been wondering what kind of pipe diameter I should get. Would 25mm suffice? I don't think I will go for drip irrigation. I would like to split the pipe into three sections, and install a regular garden hose at each junction, so I can irrigate 6-7 trees manually from the outlet at each junction.

[@silviofontana5144]

yes, but the more water head you can establish, the greater the pressure, then you need to match the drip holes with the flow rate, otherwise you will empty out real quick. 1000lt will be about one ton is weight, convert this to pressure value. Make sure your drip holes are facing upward unless the pipe is suspended on the trees. If on the ground the holes facing the ground will often become blocked.

[@run306]

if you put sprinkler doe it run?

[@kelvinskeates6389]

How did you get the water into the blue tank?

[@xstreemfishing]

We watered 300 trees by hand for the first dry season. Now the swales have done their job during the wet the trees should be able to survive the next dry. That being said we are ready to water by hand again if necessary.

[@TheNaturalFarmer]

Where do you live again?

[@xstreemfishing]

I am in Fiji. That being said I live on the dry side of the big island. surrounded by sugar cane.

[@TheNaturalFarmer]

Yeah when I was in India, things obviously grew a lot faster. Not only because of the rain, but also because of the temperature. Here, in Winter, the temperature fluctuates between 6-12 C on average. Plants pretty much go dormant. This leaves the growth times for the Spring and the Autumn - when there is the ideal mix of warm temperature and moisture. That can be the case as well in Summer of course, but we have to provide the water. That's what I'm aiming for. Good water in Summer. Then things will take off...

[@DjBolin-pe1zm]

hey man I hop you see this but no video I hop every thing is ok and I really hope to see more up loads

[@TheNaturalFarmer]

I'm busy creating online courses.... :)

[@MelindaDeBrouwer]

Hi John. How do you fill up the tank again? Seems a bit far from a tap or rain gutter. Thanks

[@TheNaturalFarmer]

Good observation. To answer your question, this tank was gravity fed from another tank, as an experiment. All rainwater. Now, instead of the little tank in the video I have a 5,000L tank there which lasts much longer. But I like to try little tanks as test runs, then make decisions off of that....

[@Anosha116]

How do you get water into the tank?

[@MrJimloveuk]

Hi Jon. How much water does a tree need per day in your Sicilian climate?

[@spagettiicecream]

Great video thanks. I just kink the tube and use wire to tie it shut. Saces money buying end caps. Just saying . 😉

[@TheNaturalFarmer]

Sounds great!

[@ck-4203]

Nice video. Wondering, is it PVC or polyethylene tubing? In the states micro-irrigation (thinner wall) and sprinkler (thicker wall) tubing is typically polyethylene.

[@alecmitchell2888]

It's polyethylene, PVC tube is rigid and goes brittle in direct sunlight.

[@urbaninterlude]

What is the minimum fall that will work for this kind of system? We have a fairly flat block, maybe 0.5 m drop over 40 m of back yard, in Adelaide Australia that also has a mediterranean climate.

[@TheNaturalFarmer]

Yeah that's pretty flat. But this will still work, if you make two adjustments. First, rather than attaching micro tubes and points, as I've shown in the video, just drill holes where you want the water to drip out by the trees' roots, in the larger black feed pipe, and cover the area with mulch. This simple hole system requires the least amount of head pressure to make the water exit. Also...If you can, use a tall, narrow tank, rather than a short wide tank. The internal head pressure created by the vertical column of water in the tank itself will help ensure enough pressure to flow down the subtle slope of your land. Hope that helps! Thanks for your comment.

[@sampersoon7168]

Hi John, i was wondering if it's possible to gravity feed an entire bed with this system? I suppose if the distance isn't to far, that could work... I want to set up my own project here but i don't have land yet so i am currently trying to make a hypothetical estimation of my costs (prefered costs as low as possible, so hopefully without a pump). Thanks for your advice here! I appreciate it :)

[@TheNaturalFarmer]

Yes, you can water an entire bed system. The greater the fall from tank to bed, the greater the flow pressure. No problem.

[@seanlabrie]

John, what brand components are these? the plastic end caps and the feeder lines and ground spikes. is there a website you source from? Thanks,

[@TheNaturalFarmer]

No idea. I live in Italy. Bought them at the farm supply store. Sorry I can't be of more help....

[@marykathryn702]

It looks like ollas would be perfect for those plants. OLLAS have a perfect watering system and would replace the smallest black tubes. The water would be controlled by how much the trees need and can still be gravity feed by water weight/height. The XLarge 11 liter olla would serve you well.

[@TheNaturalFarmer]

Actually hand watering and great mulch is perfect for these trees. Ollas are more products to purchase, digging large holes in the ground, etc. I've used them. I don't care for them. But I know many people like them. I've since taken out the drip irrigation. I water by hand now. Allows me to spend time with each tree. All the best....

[@CraigOverend]

Good stuff John. I'm assuming your trees were all planted on contour so they all see the same head height and water pressure. The large tube and valve size also helps to make sure a high flow area at low pressure such that each of those drippers along the length sees similar flow rate. Sometimes, especially with smaller lines, it can be beneficial to loop a line back to the water source rather than cap the end to ensure equal pressure. Have you had any problems with that style of dripper spike blocking over time at such low pressure?

[@TheNaturalFarmer]

Interesting. I did not know about looping the line back to the water source. Will that work on a gravity-fed system? Yes, all trees on contour.

[@RamHomier]

I am interested in what exactly is the dripper called and where to buy them. You mention a capillary tube and a point. Is it something very common I can show up to the local builder centers and buy it with my PVC pipes?

[@TheNaturalFarmer]

Our local farming supply store sold me the parts. Were you able to find what you needed?

[@nicolasbertin8552]

It's not the fall that gives you most of the pressure, it's the weight of the water above the nozzle. The height difference gives you a negligible gain compared to all that water weight. Once your tank is almost empty, then yeah it's gonna be the fall working for you, but you'll have a lot less water coming out. That's the issue with gravity feeding : the flow varies with the amount of water in your tank. Using a middle tank that's fed by other tanks so the middle one is always full and keeps a constant flow is a solution.

[@TheNaturalFarmer]

So.... I'm willing to accept your explanation, however, by observance, I see that reality does not support your theory. The tank shown here is a mini system. I have the majority of my trees in this area, ie 100 of them, fed by a 5,000 L tank, on the other part of this piece of land. From top to bottom, there is about a 3 meter drop on that larger system. I have 3 lines running off of that larger tank. The top line (which only has a fall of about 40 cm) has minimal pressure (let's say that water exits a hole at a height of about 3 cm), the second line which feeds the middle of land (having a fall of about 90 cm) has greater pressure (water exits at a height of 20 cm), and the lowest line - which has a total fall of about 3 meters, has a much greater pressure (water exits at 60 cm height). All are tubes are 25 mm, all are fed from the same 5,000 L tank. The only difference is the fall, which controls pressure, which is measured in bars (10m height difference is one bar). That's why community water towers are located at a great height - to create pressure. What you say is true - it's the weight of the water above the nozzle, however it acts through the length of the tube. The higher the water, the greater the pressure. That pressure, once the valve is opened, acts through the tube running all the way down the system - ie the 3 m drop from tank to sink. Then again, perhaps I'm wrong.

[@ck-4203]

Unless the tank is somehow pressurized, which it is not, the water level in the tank (elevation head) alone determines the pressure in the large supply tubing (22-25 mm). The pressure in the tubing will decrease over time as the water level in tank decreases. I am not familiar with small "capillary tubing" but if it does what the name implies the decrease in pressure in the supply tubing would not affect it as it draws water from the supply tubing via capillary forces (suction). Wondering, it might be necessary to have a filter near the spigot to prevent clogging of the capillary tubing as water could have sediment,

[@simlock3674]

is clogged drippers an issue? thank you

[@TheNaturalFarmer]

I haven't had any problems. But it depends on the cleanliness of the water in the tank...

[@jerrycobos6947]

Hello do you happen to have the brand and model of the capillary tube & point? I’ve seen them here in town. I’m not able to find them though. Could you help me out sir??

[@TheNaturalFarmer]

I don't. I'm sorry. Others have asked me as well. I got them from our local farm supply store....

[@noneyabizness6332]

Where does the water come from? How did the water get into the tank?

[@TheNaturalFarmer]

It's rainwater

[@reedr7142]

Could there be enough pressure for a sprinkler?

[@TheNaturalFarmer]

No. Probably not. One way to find out though...

[@yavuzzirhlisi]

in this video this system runs for 7 avocado trees. if you have more much than 7, how can you arrange it sir? perhaps 70 tree or more?

[@TheNaturalFarmer]

You'll need to go deeper in your research. This video is intended for a simple, quick, easy solution for watering a few trees. If you want to water an entire orchard (correctly, consistently), you'll most likely need to power it with a pump and manage the pressure with regulators. It's more complicated. Like I said, you'll have to go deeper...

[@TG.34295]

What type of drippers are you using?

[@TheNaturalFarmer]

The kind they sell at the Italian farm supply store. Sorry. I wish I could be of more help..

[@thomasporter9789]

Did this work? I see very small trees in the video. This system, did it prove out? Are the trees alive and flourishing thanks to this system? I was under the impression that these types a capillary tube systems needed a lot more pressure than could be achieved by ground level gravity feed tanks. I truly hope I am misguided in my thinking.

[@TheNaturalFarmer]

Yes it works. That's why I made the video, to show that you can create a drip system with very llittle fall. Everyone said I needed much greater fall. When I discovered for myself that this was not true, I decided to make the video.

[@majnubhailive]

is watert pump needed

[@TheNaturalFarmer]

Not if you catch water in the tank from a roof top or gravity feed it down from another tank, as we've done here. This demonstration works via gravity.

[@kylelaw7210]

How much water does each dripper use per day?

[@lupusk9productions]

i'd be curious about that as well

[@TheNaturalFarmer]

It all depends on time. If you want to measure it, place a cup under each dripper and time it. I water the avocados 2-3 times per week, for about 20-25 min each time. I'm guessing they get 1/2 L of water each time. But it's water at the roots, under mulch, so it's very efficient water.

[@AlanBarrettVideos]

I wonder if this is freeze proof.

[@TheNaturalFarmer]

Definitely not. Climate is king. All solutions in permaculture are site specific