Irrigation Proposal / Fertigation, should I?

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sam1220
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Irrigation Proposal / Fertigation, should I?

Post by sam1220 » May 8th, 2021, 8:48 am

I'm planning to do a major overseed project this fall on my 14,000 sq. ft. lawn. The thought of having to move sprinklers around for several weeks got me seriously considering an irrigation system. Ok, it wasn't really that - I just wanted an irrigation system.

I had a local contractor come out and design the system. It ended up being about $7,000 installed, 14 heads. Seems reasonable to me, but I have nothing to compare. It was difficult to even find a local irrigation contractor that did residential work. I found a lot of "landscape companies" that would say, "Oh, sure, we can put in sprinklers." But I prefer my heart surgery to be performed by a heart surgeon, not the guy at Urgent Care.

Once we were done walking the property I asked about a fertigation system. "Sure, we can do that, but we haven't done them in years. No one ever asks for them." Is this something only for us turf fanatics? It doesn't seem like it requires a lot of skill, but most homeowners don't see the value?

As for the system, I see EZ-FLO and MiniDos. Is one preferred over the other? (Hopefully not a Coke/Pepsi) question.

Thanks for any advice.

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MorpheusPA
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Re: Irrigation Proposal / Fertigation, should I?

Post by MorpheusPA » May 8th, 2021, 1:34 pm

I can't speak to the irrigation system price, but other can as others here have had them installed. I'll keep my mouth shut on that point. :-)

For the fertigation system on a lawn, don't bother. Liquid fertigation on a lawn doesn't make much sense. They require a lot of nitrogen all at once at certain times of the year. IMHO it's easier to use a spreader, and solids are far cheaper per unit price, can be spread more evenly than they can be watered in, and so on.

I use an EZ-FLO system in my gardens and absolutely love it. It makes feeding the gardens a snap--and the gardens need a boost every week of nitrogen, with a whisper of P and just a bit of K, a touch of iron, and a bit of kelp. Or whatever I want to add. Rather than do this by hand over 2,000 square feet, I can do it by adding the mix to the front and back systems, starting 'er up, and coming back later.

But I still hand-spread organics over the gardens monthly.

sam1220
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Re: Irrigation Proposal / Fertigation, should I?

Post by sam1220 » May 8th, 2021, 1:42 pm

MorpheusPA wrote:
May 8th, 2021, 1:34 pm
For the fertigation system on a lawn, don't bother.
What about to dispense BLSC/KH on bi-weekly basis? Not enough water?

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MorpheusPA
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Re: Irrigation Proposal / Fertigation, should I?

Post by MorpheusPA » May 8th, 2021, 4:59 pm

Sorry, I was out planting said gardens. And...done. The reason I use an EZ-FLO is that they're 2,000 square feet of flower garden, or a Bit Much to do by hand. It takes 10 flats of flowers (minimum) to cover.

I suppose you could apply both and I wouldn't argue with you if you want to do that. At any reasonable dilution rate on the system, it would be just fine. I put both in my systems for the gardens quite regularly without any issues at all, and lawns are far sturdier than some of the flowers I grow, which object deeply to being hammered with odd substances.

Point in fact, I just add the water soluble kelp solid to the system and let her rip. It works great. Same with the sodium lauryl sulfate solid. Both are simply added (in small amounts) to my weekly feeding so it's always being supplied (in proper weekly amounts) to the gardens. This is why fertigation is a major plus--there's no need to ever swamp a system. In your case, you'd most likely add both and let it run until the EZ-FLO jug water is reasonably clear. That works too.

So yeah, go for it if you want. If you hate it, you don't have to use it.

Hammbone81
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Re: Irrigation Proposal / Fertigation, should I?

Post by Hammbone81 » May 9th, 2021, 7:58 am

Price in a system is hard to judge because there's a few things that go into it. For example, I just had mine installed last fall and I had some upcharge because I'm on a corner lot and they had to bore under the sidewalk in 3 places to get to the boulevards.
Also, I dont know what size your supply line is, but 14 heads on 14,000sqft seems WAY light.
I have a 1" main, 9,800sqft of grass, 12 zones, and 63 heads. Each head has to reach out and touch another head. You must have head-to-head coverage for even distribution.
Lastly, does your quote include getting water to the system? I had to install a 2nd meter (yard meted that doesn't get charged sewer AND its 1" vs my 5/8" house meter). This included several valves, running it outside, and installing an RPZ. I did all of that on my own, it was NOT part of the quote.
Will all of what I just mentioned, and doing my own plumbing, I spent about what you were quoted. But again, 1 head per M seems WAY light.

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