Drippers and drip lines

‘Drip lines’ are pipes with evenly spaced drippers seamlessly welded inside. And ‘drippers’ are the emitters that deliver mixtures of water and nutrients directly, in measured quantities and at regulated pressures, to each individual plant.

If your plants are distributed evenly across your field, orchard or greenhouse, you’ll mostly rely on drip lines to irrigate and fertigate. But if you’ve got irregular spacing between your plants, you’ll likely need to place individual drippers to make sure every plant gets water and nutrients sent directly to its root zone.

Pressure-compensated (PC) drippers are designed for steep and varied topographies or for long fields. Whatever the pressure, they maintain a consistent flow rate, allowing you to build an effective precision irrigation system no matter how tricky your landscape is or how long are your crop rows. Non-PC drippers are ideal for flat topographies, or shorter crop rows.

The thicker the drip line, the more durable it’s going to be to external damage or to system pressure. It will offer greater resistance to physical damages and will allow operating the system with a wider range of pressures. Thinner drip lines are better-suited for removal every few years or even every crop cycle. They’re also less expensive so replacing them isn’t a huge cost. Medium-walled drip lines sit somewhere in between, offering a balance between cost and longevity.