I've added stuff to my car there before but never made the purchase. I did learn that you do not want to buy one packet of seeds because shipping will cost as much as, if not more than the seeds. I forget how many packets I made it up to before shipping took a big jump. Seems like 3-4 packets was the best deal but it could be 5-6 or something.
Been thinking about this pulse watering thing in my clayey loam.
https://pndcdahlia.com/Bulletins/PulseWateringforDahlias.pdf
I like the idea of watering overnight but will need a pressure sensor to automatically shut it down if the pressure drops out indicating a leak. Not a problem since I'm using industrial automation components. I don't see the need to wait for 3 hours between pulse sessions though.
My clayey soil takes up water a little slow but I think an hour would be fine. This soil has trouble taking in water before runoff occurs so I think less water, more often will be best. Maybe 2 minutes every hour for 10 hours. Seems like a better starting point for me. Maybe even 1-2 minutes every half hour for five hours. I could do that after the sun gets down behind the trees in the afternoon. Half an hour should be plenty of time for a cup or two of water to disperse.
My economy drip system doesn't have true emitters. It has small holes and they call it a soaker drip system. My little garden is on a slight grade and I've seen the drippers turn into a bunch of tiny streams running downhill. My big garden also has a slight grade and all gardens have little mounds and low spots and the rows tend to be higher than the aisles, even if you didn't try to hill the rows.
I'm off to town to do food shopping and grab an automotive relay which is the final thing I need to run the water pump on the controller(by day for now). Need to do daytime so I can observe the results of the pulse timings too. As noisy as this little pump is and as close to the house and my bedroom as my little garden is, no way I can run it at night anyway.
I've got one cheap soil moisture sensor that I'm going to stick in the ground and check the readings on. A shovel or trowel will be the real indicator though. Might make a core sampler from some conduit. If the sensor seems to be consistent and inline with observation, it might be worth using to shut down the drip system.
The goal is a 2 foot wide band of evenly moist soil with the drip line centered in it and the moisture going at least 6 inches down in the soil. The soil moisture sensor is almost 4 inches long so a change in readings out at the edge of the band should mean watering is pretty much done.
