Thirteen years ago I went shopping for my first Netafim supplies. Yesterday I hooked up a section of Netafim that I created about eight years ago to attach to a hose. I have used this particular double-line unit nearly every year since and it worked great yesterday. (Those are some grapes I started from cuttings – more on that later)
After so many years of easy success with Netafim, including four years in my custom raised beds at our current home, I was mystified by some coverage problems I was having in my top two terraced beds. The tubing was all new and had been working fine the first year. But now, with a total of five terraced beds I had significant dry spots in the top two beds and some of my strawberry plants were dying. I did some of my own evaluation, but then it was time to call in my engineer.
He wanted to go through his own evaluation steps, so we
- Checked for water flow
- Tried to confirm drip holes were patent
- Cut the tubing in various places for more dripping
- Completely replaced one section
As I outline in the video, the tubes appeared to be full of water, though we did not compare pressure in lower terrace beds to higher terrace beds. When we poked into the visible drip holes, they seemed clear. However, we discovered during the dissection that there was more involved in how the water got to those holes. Cutting the drip holes larger or cutting small slits next to them didn’t seem to help, but we definitely got some dripping and a bit of spraying when making small holes in a few places not at the drip sight. Again, the dissection of the drip site shows likely reasons for that. And finally, replacing a section made some difference, but not as much as we had hoped, leaving us to think there is more than one reason the water flow is diminished.
My husband misplaced the first dissected drip module before I had a chance to take photos, so he kindly dissected another. Although he is all for me learning new things, he said the dissection was on the dangerous side and he would rather do it himself. He is more familiar with using the utility blade, especially when controlled strength is needed.
I titled the video “phase one” because we haven’t figured out for sure what changes I need to make. I might need to replace more tubing or I might need to change those upper terrace beds to a hose fitting and water them separate from the sprinkler system. Still, we understand our Netafim much better now. If you’ve ever wondered just what is inside Netafim tubing, prepare to be amazed.
PS – In case any of you are wondering, I’m switching to hosting my videos on my own Vimeo account because YouTube kept changing the rules of engagement on content creators in ways that put small-fry like me at a disadvantage. Plus, this way there are no commercials for anyone!
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