misters or drippers?

[bonsaibeginer]

Hi all. I have realized that I do not have as much time as I thought I would have, recently choosing to quit work to stay at home with my 2 kids... In the hopes of not loosing too many trees, most of which are still in training, I have decided to grow them on in colanders in the ground. Dug up my patch and planted most of them out.
My question is what are other's preference when it comes to irrigation? I plan to run a sprinkler system but don't know which works better?
Any suggestions, do I go above the trees with a spray or go along the ground with a dripper or spray?
I can take some pics if this would help?
Thanks

[SteveW]

In the ground, I would just use overhead microsprays, with mulch to control weeds.

In pots on shelve, I use the adjustable sprays on short stems, the ones with the conical opening, not the ones with spray holes. These give an even circle of water that can be adjusted to suit the pot size. Use two sprays for trees with fat trunks, one on either side of the trunk.

Donse drippers as they just do directly below were they sit in the pot, especially if you have a decent, open mix.

[maple]

In pots on shelve, I use the adjustable sprays on short stems, the ones with the conical opening, not the ones with spray holes. These give an even circle of water that can be adjusted to suit the pot size. Use two sprays for trees with fat trunks, one on either side of the trunk.

Steve, not sure if I've seen the sprayers you're talking about. You said they are adjustable in width but are they adjustable in volume as well? I've read different articles on this subject and still not sure what is best. I would like to set a watering system of some sort while we're away but I find 3 trees on the same bench all require different amounts of water. One tree will need watering and the others might be OK for another day. Do you find that, or are you just happy to hit everything the same?

[SteveW]

These ones are available at Bunnings: http://www.bunnings.com.au/products_pro ... 0645.aspxi

They adjust to bigger circles or smaller, which is the same as adjusting the amount of water.

With any irrigation system, it is one size fits all. Depends how many trees and time you have. Most CA sualties are from blockedvsprays, rather than over watering. A really open mix is the other trick.

[shibui]

For pots on the bench I agree with Steve - sprays or shrubblers are better because drippers only water one part of the pot.
For trees in the ground microsprays spread the water better but waste a lot watering areas away from the trees. I have straight lines with paths between and I reckon drippers are as good or better because the moisture spreads out quite well in the soil and waters a larger area than it does in a pot. A dripper each side of your trees in the ground should give them enough water to grow well. Strip sprays should also work well. I'll have to try some and see if they will work on my low pressure gravity system.
If you have planted in a grid pattern sprays might spread the water better without wasting too much.