I am some what new to growing a vegrtable garden. And in real need for some help on watering it. I have 8 rows 60 ft. long and each row is 6 ft. apart. I was thinking of a soaker hose but someone said it would be to long of a run for the soaker hose. And I hear that watering from a sprinkler could cause leaf damage. Thanks for any help anyone can give me.
best way to water my vegetable garden
milwaukeenc, first, a HEARTY WELCOME TO DG!
As for watering your garden, soaker hoses would do you just fine. From one single hose bib you can do up to approximately 5 soaker hoses that are up to 100 ft each. Any more than that and you'll lose your pressure/distribution. For example, you can lay out 5 100 ft hoses down the rows with manifold feeder and that will supply your crops with plenty of water.
To be more precise, for your garden (8 rows at 60 ft long = 480ft) you could lay a 60 ft hose down each row. However, you'll need to make a "feeder hose", which can be done by using "Y" connectors or by splicing into a main hose with a "T". If you are familiar with that you'll be doing great. If not, please feel free to ask questions.
I think your friend was telling you that a single hose (or hoses attached together, end to end, for 480 ft) would be too much and he/she is correct. (You'll lose too much water pressure.)
As for "watering from a sprinkler could cause leaf damage"...that will depend on what the plant is and, most importantly, when you water. Some plants when watered during the heat of the day will definitely suffer from water/sun burn...however, a sprinkler when used in the early morning hours or just before the sun gets off them will certainly help you out and not cause heat damage. Personally, I vote for soaker hoses since they tend to put the water directly at the root system, they don't promote water evaporation (as do overhead sprinklers), and they really the water supply.
Hope this is helpful to you! And again, Welcome to DG!
Shoe
Good idea. I use the soaker hose system in my raised bed vegetable garden. Important to use the 5/8 inch hose to get a decent moisture spread. Linkage can economically be made with inexpensive plastic hose couplings/fittings from places like Big Lots or Walmart. I use salvaged garden hose from roadside scavengings. Funny how people will throw away a perfectly good hose just because they ran over a fitting! For about a buck and a half they could have put on a new one! Nice rain last night so won't have to water for a few days. Tomatoes and cukes looking good! Good gardening - Bill in Greensboro