Garden Bed Micro-Irrigation (Plants)

Gardena Micro Drip Irrigation System

I have a flowerbed area of over 1000m2 that I have been watering for over twenty years with 180-degree Gardena micro-sprinklers for 4.6mm inner diameter tubing

This system, which I power from my well, is almost perfect except that regularly, they get clogged by small insects or limescale or algae. Since I have installed several hundred, their price and this regular clogging issue led me to search for and find my own system. I modeled in Fusion 360 the small caps and connectors to join two 4.6mm tubes. But for the micro-sprinkler, I realized that the solution is extremely simple. You just need to use a utility knife blade to slit the 4.6mm Gardena hose for a little more than 50% of its diameter, and through this slit you get a very fine mist-like spray similar to that of 180° sprinklers. With hoses from other brands, which are often thicker, this does not work. So it's free. You only need to place a cap 2 or 3 centimeters after the slit. But if you want to slit this small tube precisely in depth and perpendicular to the tube, it's better to have a tool. So I also offer a small cube that allows for this. I print all of this in PETG with 100% infill and supports

On one plate you will find the caps, on another the connectors, on another the small cube

Finally, almost all the time I need to elevate these sprinklers to 20, 50cm and sometimes even a meter or more. There I wrap the small hose around a 10mm rebar or I use small aluminum tubes bought in a DIY store and to use them and connect the 4.6 hoses I modeled a small connector that slides onto the ends of the aluminum tubes and on the other end onto the small hoses you will also find this type of connector on a plate

Note: during the first use, you generally have to help the slit open correctly to get the right spray, then the spraying works correctly. If this can help you, the download is free! The small cube allows you to slit the tube at different depths to obtain, for example, a spray of less than 180° such as 90°

Happy watering