Irrigation Info (and retractions!)

Hopefully at this point, you have all listened to the irrigation piece on the Home Brewing Perspectives Podcast. While I thought everything was set and ready to go, I have gotten some solid feedback with information and advice....this feedback convinced me to make a few changes to the plan which I discussed on the podcast.

I am using a drip irrigation system. The system that I got ended up being a different brand than planned. I went with a product by DIG Irrigation Products. It is a very simple to use/install system. The only real change is the company name (this system was simply more available & affordable.) I won't consider this a retraction though...

Retraction #1: "Powdery Mildew is not a problem in my area." Wow, do I feel stupid. Powdery Mildew was arguably the sole reason for the destruction of the Hops Industry in the Northeast. Thanks to Mike from Dallas and Melody from Oregon for urging me into a little more research. What makes it even worse is that I've actually treated tomato plants for powdery mildew, and for some reason (I'll call it a brain fart) didn't put 1 and 1 together.

Retraction #2: "I'm going to run misters up my trellis structure" (this is a direct result of retraction #1.) I spoke with a friend of mine who has been a farmer, landscape architect, and runs the agriculture program at my high school; his advice was to just go with the drip system. The theory behind drip systems is that they water the root system directly. Since plants get water through the roots, we don't need misters...the use of misters would simply lead to the chance of powdery mildew.

I'm installing the system this week and finally transferring the rhizomes into the ground as well. I do think I'm a little behind as far as planting goes, but my main goal for year one was to ensure survival and development of a healthy plant. Whatever yield we get year one will be a happy bonus...