Clay, Loam, or Sandy Soil: What Drip Should I Use?

T-Tape works great in heavy clay soil.

Varying soil types need specific drip emitters or sprayers to put out water at precise rates for proper watering patterns. In order to help our fellow drip irrigation enthusiasts, and those interested to learn more about drip irrigation techniques, we've gone ahead and listed our recommendations for the best drip emitters, sprayers, and tubing to use for your irrigation needs based on soil types.

Heavy Clay Soil

Clay soil absorbs water slowly and spreads the water laterally, therefore we recommend low flow emitters to give the water time to spread out. For individual plants use emitters with a low ½ gallon per hour rating such as the the Woodpecker PC (DNPC12) emitter, the Woodpecker JR (DNJR12) emitter, or the Pinch Drip Emitter (DPCH12). For row crops, low flow T-Tape, Aqua-Traxx, or Emitter Tubing (DET125) works well.

Sandy Light Textured Soil

Spectrum sprayers hard at work.

In sandy soil water travels vertically. To uniformly moisten sandy soil use high flow emitters with closer emitter spacing. When growing row crops on a commercial scale, 8" or 4" T-Tape left on for a longer duration works extremely well, as does 1/2" Emitter Tubing (DET91, DET95 and DET121) and 1/4" Soaker Dripline (DSD 6). In flower beds, adjustable sprayers like the Spectrum and the Micro Jets will completely cover the soil surface and can be tailored to the size of the planting area. Quick to install directly into the mainline or up on stakes, the non adjustable Mini-Jet sprayers can help creeping ground covers and ornamental gardens stay uniformly moist. Watering more often may also be necessary for irrigation in sandy soil, because water drains quickly.

Soaker Dripline keeps vegetables
well watered and healthy.

Medium Textured Loam Soil

Amended soil that has been improved over the years, is just right for Emitter Tubing and Soaker Dripline. They are easy to install and are available in a variety of spacing's from 6" (DSD 6), 9" (DET 9), or 12" (DET 12) between each emitter to beneficially distribute water evenly the entire length of the tubing. For closely planted flower beds, rock gardens, or ground cover the Ein Dor mini sprinklers are an excellent choice. They can evenly cover a 5' to 13' diameter area. In addition to this, punching in individual pressure compensating emitters near each plant can also produce excellent results while not promoting weeds in your gardening/irrigation area.

Regulating your Drip

Putting your garden or landscape on a battery timer or electronic controller allows you to precisely regulate your watering schedule. We recommend more frequent, but shorter programs for sandy soil (twice daily for 10-15 minutes), and less frequent, but longer time periods for clay soil (every other day for 25-30 minutes). This will result in water savings (= $ savings) that will pay for your timer and irrigation system within the first season! Here's to helping you produce a beautiful and bountiful garden.

Further Resources

Interested to learn more about the products mentioned above? DripWorks believes that seeing the products in action is the best way for you to feel confident about the products we carry. Click on the links below to watch great product videos, our related drip irrigation kits, and much more! You'll see how our drip irrigation supplies can make your garden incredible!

                               Emitter Tubing Video   
                               Ein Dor Mini Sprinkler Video     

                               Mini-Jet Video                            Mini-Jet Kit KHJET          

                               Soaker Dripline Video                Soaker Dripline Kit KHDSD6

                               Spectrum Video

                               T-Tape Video                             T-Tape Kit KTAPE