Easy Irrigation with Neta – Installation Tips

Here are a few tips and tricks to make the installation of your irrigation system easier. First thing to look at is tubing, first thing you need to do is get the water from your tap to your garden, to do this use poly pipe. Poly pipe comes in different diameters depending on your water needs, usually either 13 mil or 19 mil. 

Once you set up your main line, you’ll need to organize how you’re going to get water from the main line to the plants. If your main line is close enough to the plants, you can put sprinklers or drippers straight into the main line. If you need to move the water out, you can use flexible tube with either drippers or sprinklers on the end. 

An easier alternative to running a main line with separate sprinklers is to use garden drip. Neta garden drip has holes spaced 30 centimetres apart and allows four liters per minute to flow through. It also prevents ants and dirt from getting in and blocking the holes. Your poly pipe will come tightly bound when you purchase it and need to be straightened out. If you don’t have a friend to help you do this, use a pipe stake, secure one end and unravel the other.

While planning out an irrigation system, it’s a great idea to go through the Neta irrigation planner and create a shopping list of exactly what you’re going to need when setting up the garden. You can pick these up from anywhere that you get your Neta fittings. When you’re setting up the piping, the golden rule is to measure twice, cut once; this will make sure you eliminate any wastage. 

The sky’s the limit when setting up your irrigation system with Neta irrigation fittings. We have everything from joiners, elbows, tees, reducing tees, anything that you may need to make the job easier. There are a couple of ways to cap off the end of your line, you can use an end cap or even better use an in-line valve so that you can flush out any debris, ants or anything else that might get in the line. One tip for attaching any fittings to the end of your pipe, heat it up in some warm water, this will make inserting the fitting so much easier. If you’re connecting a hose to your poly pipe, use a click-on joiner with bug cap to stop anything crawling in the end when it’s not being used. 

When you’re ready to start installing your sprinklers and risers, you’ll need a multi tool. Use this firstly to put holes in the actual piping, press down till you feel a click. You can then insert a riser and then use the multi tool to screw in the sprinkler head and remove the cap when you need to for cleaning. A good tip, keep your multi-tool on a lanyard so you don’t lose it and one other tip, if you do put a hole in the wrong place, use a goof plug to plug it up. 

There are several different types of drippers available to use when setting up your irrigation system. Pressure compensating drippers will allow you to ensure an even water flow if you live on a sloping block. Adjustable drippers allow you to adjust the flow depending on water needs. We have different flow rates on our drippers anything from two litres up to four litres per hour. Drippers can also be attached to flexible tube if you need to position them in certain parts of the garden or directly under plants. 

For plants that are a little bit away from the main line, use some flexible tube and a stake. Use your multi tool to punch a hole in the main line then if your plant is a bit of a distance away from the main line use the stake to hold the dripper and connect to the main line. This is a great technique to use when adding a new plant to the garden. 

Micro sprays are great to use in your irrigation system, they create a fine spray that can be directed directly onto plants or throughout the garden. There are several different types anything from 90 degrees up to 360 degree sprays, misters, adjustable sprays, and sprays with removable sprinklers that are easy to clean. We also have micro sprinklers that are great if you need to cover a larger part. The Neta riser stake is designed to hold the riser in place keeping it straight. 

Before you begin setting up your irrigation system, you need to work out exactly how much water you have available, this will determine how many sprinklers and drippers you can set up in the garden. To do this you just need a bucket, a phone with a timer and your irrigation planner. Time how long it takes to fill the bucket then go to the planner, it’ll tell you exactly how much water you have available. 

A water timer may reduce the water pressure coming out of your tap so if you’re using one, do your bucket test through the timer, that way you’ll know exactly how much water you have. If you’re not using a water timer, you may need to reduce the pressure of water coming out of your tap. To do this, you can use a pressure reducer. It’ll connect straight onto the tap; make sure you follow the arrow on the reducer so that the water flow goes in the right direction. For the setup in our video, we’re using a click-on connector, small piece of poly pipe and an in-line filter. 

If you’re not going to be disconnecting the pipe from the tap too often, a simple screw-on nut and tail will be just fine. When it comes to maintenance and repair, prevention is better than cure. Start with an in-line filter from the tap, make sure you install it with flow following the arrow. If you have unwanted insects in the garden, use an anti-ant product such as an anti-ant sprinkler or an anti-ant connector and we also recommend adding an in-line valve at the end of the poly pipe to allow you to flush out the system every now and again. 

For the setup in our video, we decided to go with sprayers on risers but drippers would work just fine. It’s imperative you get your setup correct from the beginning. I hope these tips have helped you throughout the day, if you have any questions, you can contact us at Neta.