Anyone Using Deep Drip for their Palms?

[joe_OC]

I am converting my sprinklers over to drop and wanted to know if anyone was using these deep drip spikes.  Here's a link with information on the product:

 

Deep Drip Spikes

[GottmitAlex]

Not in winter in our latitude.(For our tropicals)

 

 

[joe_OC]

7 hours ago, GottmitAlex said:

Not in winter in our latitude.(For our tropicals)

 

 

Not talking about deep watering...I'm talking about that actual product..."Deep Drip" spikes.

[Palm Tree Jim]

I have drip over my entire garden and never once considered these.

The use of emitters and spray heads has served me well.

[joe_OC]

Thanks, Jim.  How do you fertilize?  Do you have dosatron?

[JubaeaMan138]

I do the same as Jim  no deep drippers just emitters . Works great . Took me a while to get everything dialed in to werenit saturated enough and not to much . I found with drip less days longer cycles . At first it was to many days and not long enough which in my opinion wasn’t getting all the way down actually lost a good size decipiens because of this. Thought it had fungus and when i dug it up I found a dry root ball . As far as fert I’m using palm plus and every once once in a while I paint them with miracle grow . I know a lot of people don’t like the miracle grow . But I’ve talked to some well respected growers and it’s a good way to green things up. And besides that I love spraying the plants down with a foliage fertilizer on a hot summer evening 

[joe_OC]

So with drip, topical ferts still work good?  Thats good to know.  I was thinking of loading the spikes with ferts and letting it drip right to the root nutrient take up zone.

[JubaeaMan138]

Not exactly sure I just spread around the top and then mulch over it . I always thought fert in the root zone was a bad idea but I’m probably wrong . 

[joe_OC]

24 minutes ago, JubaeaMan138 said:

Not exactly sure I just spread around the top and then mulch over it . I always thought fert in the root zone was a bad idea but I’m probably wrong . 

Concentrated fertilizers would burn the roots for sure, but I figure it's being diffused by the water, and is not touching anything since they are in the spike.  You need water to breakdown the ferts.  Ferts have to get to the roots in order for the nutrient uptake, right?  I thought about using them because I was on a garden tour and the owner used them.  Must say his palms looked really good.  Just don't know how he was fertilizing.  

Edited November 6, 2018 by joe_OC

[sonoranfans]

Plenty of info on irrigatilon depth with surface emitters.  I have noticed buried emitters clog easy and I grower I know out west says his drippers clog up every couple years with fertigation.  The only advantage I can see for deep drip on shallow rooted trees like palms is reduced evaporative losses.  The downside is that generally the wet zone will be more narrow/gallon used with deep drip.  Water doesn't move upwards by capillary action but it does move sideways if the soil is slow enough draining.  There are short courses of using drip irrigation that explain how the wetting works in  drip irrigation.https://www.irrigationtutorials.com/drip-irrigation-design-guidelines-basics-of-measurements-parts-and-more/

 

[joe_OC]

11 minutes ago, sonoranfans said:

Plenty of info on irrigatilon depth with surface emitters.  I have noticed buried emitters clog easy and I grower I know out west says his drippers clog up every couple years with fertigation.  The only advantage I can see for deep drip on shallow rooted trees like palms is reduced evaporative losses.  The downside is that generally the wet zone will be more narrow/gallon used with deep drip.  Water doesn't move upwards by capillary action but it does move sideways if the soil is slow enough draining.  There are short courses of using drip irrigation that explain how the wetting works in  drip irrigation.https://www.irrigationtutorials.com/drip-irrigation-design-guidelines-basics-of-measurements-parts-and-more/

 

Thanks, Tom.  Just to be clear, I would have a drip emitter going IN to the Deep Drip spike.  My thought process was that the water distribution would work the same, dependent on your soil type.  It would just start deeper under ground so there would be less evaporation.  My main interest with them was for getting the fertilizer to the roots more efficiently.  Like I said, I saw one application of these spikes in person, and it was pretty impressive.  

Edited November 6, 2018 by joe_OC

[Vari805]

Hi Joe,

I used these before, at my last place.  I found that on the slope of my hill, which was about 30 degrees, I needed to use these in order to water properly for each palm.  But on regular flat ground, there was no need for them.  They were not cheap either.   So while on a hill it was worth considering, I would not recommend them for use on a flat grade.

What I have found to work great in lieu of the deep drip tubes is vent tubes.  You can easily create this, and add a emitter if needed, for much less than the Deep Drip Tube, when planting new palms.  See sketch below.  I backfilled with 3/4" lava rock about 1.5" deep at the bottom of the hole before planting the palm.  

Matty B had this thread awhile back

http://www.palmtalk.org/forum/index.php?/topic/31717-official-palm-planting-detail/

Some of my most successful trees got this treatment, and are growing so much better than the ones that did not.  Perfect for 20g and larger palms.  IMO 

 

[sonoranfans]

yeah joe I know that fertigation is something that many of the experienced SoCal growers use.  As far as efficient, not sure that is it but immediate would be perhaps more descriptive of the deep drip.  Fertilizer in shallow soil will gradually move through the root zone as you water.  Once that fertilizer reaches a certain depth its lost altogether to the palm if not uptaken.  So in order to be efficient, it would have to be all absorbed by the palm.  As I see deep drip it would give less time for the plant to take up the fertilizer.  In order to understand the difference you would need a before/after or parallel grows with different treatments.  I definitely concede the value on sloped soil of moderate drainage, they should work very well by limiting runoff.

[Palm Tree Jim]

4 hours ago, joe_OC said:

Thanks, Jim.  How do you fertilize?  Do you have dosatron?

Fertigation .

[joe_OC]

Good input guys!  I found them for under $8 a spike.  I was going use the 14" ones so it was subterranean, but not too deep so that the ferts would not get lost.  When I observed the drip emitters, I was concerned that the rate of water coming out would not dissolve and deliver the fertilizer granules fast enough.  Sounds like the ROI is not there for them.

 

Thanks!