Soak hose / porous hose (not supplied)
Soak hose is good for distributing water along rows of plants, and for keeping soil moist over a
larger area than drippers. WaterMate Pro supports up to 20m of soak hose per zone.
To fit a soak hose to the WaterMate valves, you will need to use a section of garden hose and
jubilee clips to prevent leaks due to the higher pressure.
Soak hose and tank level sensing
Soak hose does not let much water through, which leads to a high pressure inside the hose. The
WaterMate Pro pump is designed to cut-out at a certain pressure (approx 35psi). When the
pressure drops again due to water leaking through the hose, the pump will turn on again. This
on/off cycling is normal. However it does mean that the automatic low-water sensing does not
work, since the pump is off for part of the pumping time.
If you are using a soak hose on one of your irrigation zones, turn off tank level sensing for that
zone, using the watering settings for the relevant zone on the device control panel (not the
web app).
Combinations of sprayers / drippers / misters
Itʼs possible to use a mix of emitters in a single zone; if you have a row of tomatoes and salad
along the same side of the greenhouse, you can use both drippers and sprayers.
Misters or foggers are best used by themselves (without any other type of emitter in the same
zone), as they require a higher pressure to work properly.
Soak hose is best used by itself, as it also requires a higher pressure to work properly.
Changing your setup through the seasons
When plants develop, their watering needs can change. You may also be rotating crops, and
doing multiple sowings of different crops in a season. Consider how you might want to change
the setup as time goes by. This can be done by fitting taps to the main 13mm irrigation line, or to
the 4mm take-off lines. Or, you can remove 4mm take-off lines and replace them with sprayers,
or vice versa. Plastic “goof plugs” can be used to plug redundant holes in LDPE pipe. Adjustable
drippers can be shut down completely and le inline.
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