A Gardeners Forum Forums Members History Forum Life 2005 Need Info--Soaker Hoses

I have a couple of brand new soaker hoses which I didn't use this year, What I need to know is how is the best way to use them. I have this huge water trough thing that I scavenged which has a faucet on the side and I sat it up on top of an old coffee table next to the garden fence to hook the soaker hoses up to, Everything I find about soaker hoses says to cover the hoses with mulch...I don't use mulch per say in my veggie...I use cardboard & paper feed bags. So someone please tell me how to make these work out so I can put them to use next spring.

We laid ours on top of the soil, and I put leaves on top of that, for mulch on the plants. I have read that the more sunlight the soaker hoses get, the faster they detoriate. Ours lasted about 5 yr., but then they were very good quality also.
Darlene

Well I have decided that I will have straw I can put on top of the soaker hoses, Glad to know about the sunlight, that definitely means I should cover them with something, these are very good quality, so maybe I can get 5 yrs use out of them starting this spring.

I've always covered mine with something, be it bark, straw, or most recently compost. I didn't know about the sunlight thing, but that makes sense. I covered mine because if you don't, the water goes everywhere, instead of down into the soil like you want it to...

I've also found that you have to have enough water pressure to get the hoses to work right.

OH...then maybe the water tough thing I have will not create enough pressure, I never gave that any thought, thanks for giving me something else to consider LOL.

I'm not sure what others' experiences have been, but as for my own, if i don't have the pressure to the soaker hose rather high (like all the way on at the spigot) it doesn't water evenly along the length of the hose...one end gets lots more water than the other.

I figured you might like a heads-up, and hopefully some other's will chime in!