Hoses and Couplers
Hello!
We had some questions about hoses and watering following the post on the cordless transfer pump. Here is a list of our hoses and their applications on our farm.
But first- there is one thing almost all of our hoses have in common and this is quick-connect garden couplers. These couplers offer EASY connections and disconnections between hoses. For a relatively low cost they save loads of time over a season at the points on the property where hoses are frequently hooked up and disconnected, sometimes several times in a day. So if you’ve ever been annoyed by the effort that it takes to tighten and loosen or even just to wrestle heavy hoses on to or off of spigots, sprinklers, or each other, give these a try.
We do our best to hang up our hoses. Sometimes a simple, short piece of 2x4 lumber cut at a 45 degree angle (or similar) can be a simple low cost solution for keeping hoses organized. We screw these right into our greenhouse end walls.
For inexpensive hose holders out in the in the field we install simple home gardening hose stands. They keep hoses off the ground and away from the mower.
Generic Garden Hoses
We’ve tried a range of hoses. The most generic garden hoses are prone to kinking. We use them in places where the hoses will be semi permanent all season, like between a spigot and a drip system in the fields. They are in places where they aren’t going to be moved regularly. We also keep them on hand for short term, static applications like setting up an overhead sprinkler or a fertigation tank.
The following hoses are useful for more active purposes and don’t cause kinking problems for us.
Heavy Duty Garden Hoses
Heavy duty garden hoses (available at hardware stores). These are most like common gardenhoses, but they are extra - extra thick, extra heavy. Ours is a “Contractor Farm Hose” made by Element. They are available at our local independent hardware store and at Tractor Supply, and online/other places, I’m sure. This is a decent heavy duty hose. We don’t have problems with it kinking. 50ft for $52.99
Expandable Lightweight Hoses
For light duty work, like watering in the grow room, tunnels/greenhouses, or places where hoses are temporarily used I like expandable lightweight hoses. They are inexpensive and easy to maneuver. They are the most portable of these choices. You can drop them in a 5 gallon bucket and be on your way. This is the type of hose we use with our cordless transfer pump to fertigate potted plants. 100ft for $45.99
Retractable Mounted Hoses
And lastly — Hoselink makes retractable hoses. They are self-winding and mount to a wall. It can be lifted and moved inside during the winter if you are mounting it outside, but it is quite heavy. We have one of these in our heated tunnel. It is wonderful for that purpose. We don’t have to drag a hose down the long narrow aisles and repeatedly fix it when it get caught on table legs. $229 for 82ft and the reel/case. There are many similar retractable hoses available online. We have not tested them against a Hoselink.
Thank you for following along. We’ve collected our hoses over time as we needed them. The certainly aren’t a supply that I order blindly because they can be expensive and costs add up quickly.