Irrigation for outdoors beds?

[SnowFella]

As I'm at the stage now where I'm about to put soil into my new raised cacti bed the question over to install some kind of irrigation system or not have surfaced.
Checking round alittle I come across 2 different options that seem to be suitable, either a dripline system or micro spray system. Dripline might give more even soil saturation but seem to need more hardware to work right than a micro-spray system would.
I've used a micro-spray irrigation setup in a previous house to keep gardenbeds watered but never for cacti so I have no idea how well it would work. Big plus I can see in that system over a dripline is that I can choose areas that are to get more or less water just by altering the head spacing and head type.

Anyone have any thoughts on the subject?

[cactushobbyman]

If you are worried about water stains on your plants, I would go with drip. They make a central drop with 6 outlets for 1/4" tubing and you can control the drip, or use 1/4 gallon to 2 gallons per hour drip, at least in California. 1/4" tubing is easier to cover and can be moved easy.

[SnowFella]

Not really worried about water stains as the rain we get here would be laced with lots more gunk than the tapwater is, should see what the car looks like after a small rainshower!
Likely going down the route of the micro spray system, can run that along the edges of the bed with just a few risers to cover the whole thing. Plus I can easily just swap the heads if I want to alter the saturation.

[leland]

Once your cactus get established your watering schedule should be something like once every 4 to 6 weeks in the growing season. So far I have not found a timer that will do anything like this schedule, so I water by hand. Either a drip or a spray system would work with a manual valve, just be sure to water deep but infrequently. Soaker hoses work great, too, but leave them on for hours not minutes when you do water, and they will last a lot longer if you roll them up and store them in the shade.

[Peterthecactusguy]

I am sorta the same, I do mine by hand when I seem them get dry. Of course humidity levels vary, AND I live in the desert, so I water more often slightly.. depending on season, and rainfall. I could set up a cycle on a clock, but I haven't decided if I want to or not. I am going to set one up for some of my other plants tho.. that need to be watered more regularly.

[SnowFella]

Got a microspray system set up in the new bed with about 5 heads to cover it all reasonably evenly. All I need to do to run it is plug in the gardenhose and run it for aslong as I need.
Likely mainly be relying on natural rain but it's nice to have the backup there if needed, pretty cheap system to install aswell so it didn't break the bank.

[Peterthecactusguy]

I see. Those are ok for watering if you watch them, what is bad is when people set them up on timers and overwater their plants. (watering in the desert is watched closely in some places, due to water restrictions) I however use all the rain water that I can collect.

[leland]

My experience in the AZ low desert is that you have to establish your plants with more frequent watering and then gradually train them to have deeper roots. A cactus fresh out of a 3 inch pot may need water once a week and may need temporary shade cloth the first summer. Each watering should go down a the entire depth of the root zone plus a little. As the plant grows, put the water a little deeper and less frequent. Anything that has been cared for and has been in the ground a couple years should be moved to monthly watering, although you can skip Dec. and Jan. You may also skip midsummer because many species will not grow in the extreme heat. Watch them--with many you have a split growing season--spring and fall.

This is assuming you are growing species that are half way adapted to the low desert. Some, especially small species from the tropics or higher elevations will need 50% shade cloth all their lives. anyone lucky enough to visit the Desert Botanical Gardens in Phoenix can see what grows in the low desert and what habitat you have to create for the various species.

[Peterthecactusguy]

yup, I go to DBG all the time. I grow my cacti like the native ones outside. I water them now when they are dry.. and show it. I grow my plants rather "hard". I capitalize on the summer and winter rains, and water them in between when they need it, about once a month. (that is for established plants of course) I have plenty of cuttings, that need plenty of attention.

Also I live in the high desert.. or what I really should say is near the edge of the Sonoran desert, so what I do with plants is different than what folks in Phoenix need to do. Black Canyon City, AZ is right on a boundary between the high desert and the Arizona Upland Division which are desert chaparral plants. So I have a mix of grasses, trees, shrubs and cacti. (most of the plants that grow in Phoenix are here that aren't susceptible to cold.