All but one of
these factors--dispersion--are adequately discussed elsewhere in
_Gardening Without Irrigation._
A drip emitter on sandy soil moistens the earth nearly straight down
with little lateral dispersion; 1 foot below the surface the wet
area might only be 1 foot in diameter. Conversely, when you drip
moisture into a clay soil, though the surface may seem dry, 18
inches away from the emitter and just 3 inches down the earth may
become saturated with water, while a few inches deeper, significant
dispersion may reach out nearly 24 inches. On sandy soil, emitters
on 12-inch centers are hardly close enough together, while on clay,
30-or even 36-inch centers are sufficient.
Another important bit of data to enter into your arithmetic: 1 cubic
foot of water equals about 5 gallons. A 12-inch-diameter circle
equals 0.75 square feet (A = Pi x Radius squared), so 1 cubic foot
of water (5 gallons) dispersed from a single emitter will add
roughly 16 inches of moisture to sandy soil, greatly overwatering a
medium that can hold only an inch or so of available water per foot.
On heavy clay, a single emitter may wet a 4-foot-diameter circle, on
loams, anywhere in between, 5 gallons will cover a 4-foot-diameter
circle about 1 inch deep. So on deep, clay soil, 10 or even 15
gallons per application may be in order. What is the texture of your
soil, its water-holding capacity, and the dispersion of a drip into
it? Probably, it is somewhere in between sand and clay.
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