Complete Your Greenhouse Drip Irrigation with This DIY Guide

A collage showcasing the greenhouse setup with drip irrigation. It includes images of the greenhouse exterior, drip irrigation tubing, plant beds, and gardening supplies.

Welcome back to the Greenhouse, y’all! With the first 90 deg. day in early May, that was the “indicator warning light” for me to get this greenhouse’s drip irrigation DONE… So, today I am sharing how I completed this DIY project. 🙂

First thing, finish filling the new planter bed

On a gloriously cool spring morning, starting about 7:30am, I was out there bringing in small logs and branches to lay in the planter bed bottom to reduce how much new soil we would need in this planter.

View of a greenhouse with tomatoes growing inside, a compost bin filled with leaves on the left, and a wooden planter bed in the foreground.

Second, I added in some leaves Mr. Ethereal had stored on the side of the house for this purpose (and for mulching out front where he added new grass over the waterline areas he had just dug up and refilled).

A green rake resting against a wooden planter bed filled with leaves inside a greenhouse.

Interior view of a greenhouse featuring a wooden planter bed filled with soil, with wire covers over two small plants. The background shows a gravel floor and a brick wall. — The strawberry bushes pre-move, about 8-9:00am.

For the third layer, I added in the CapRock topsoil plus a a total of five bags of soil blend. I ended up using about half of the topsoil Charles had picked up at CapRock rock yard, then mixed in 3 bags of Happy-Gro mulch/dirt from the Lowe’s. I mixed this organic garden soil with 2 more bags of Hapi-Gro’s Organic Potting Mix for a nice blend.

Hapi-Gro 50150184 1 Cubic feet All-purpose Organic Garden soil — Hapi-Gro garden soil found at Lowe’s ~ it’s a really good blend of small mulch mixed with fully composted dirt.

By working on one half of the flowerbed length at a time, I was able to finish the one side then lift the strawberry bushes up and move them over. I fertilized at the same time, too, to prevent shock. Those strawberries are tough and didn’t skip a beat!!!

A wooden planter bed inside a greenhouse with young plants growing in rows, covered by protective mesh domes. Watering lines are visible alongside the plants. — Strawberries, smaller tomato plants, cucumbers and squash all planted! (About 13 hours later!)

I took frequent breaks as it was a beautifully mild, windy day where I think it got up to 80 degrees ~ perfect for being outside all day and getting this project done. 😉

Drip irrigation tubing laid on gravel in a greenhouse with metal planter beds and gardening supplies nearby.

Reduce, reuse, recycling the waterlines

When Charles pulled up the original black 1/2″ PVC waterlines from the front flowerbed and for the original outdoor garden area, I knew we would be able to reuse all of that PVC piping here in the greenhouse!

Close-up of a greenhouse's drip irrigation system, featuring black PVC tubing, green connectors, and a power drill on a gravel surface, with leafy plants visible in the planter.

I cut off short pieces which were already shorter to begin with, and added “end clips” as needed (a figure-eight PVC piece which is slipped onto the black piping, then the pipe is folded about 4″ up and slipped through the remaining figure-eight pulling that down tight ~ this creates the end which won’t leak.)

Close-up of hand holding a section of black PVC drip irrigation pipe connected to green valves and plants in a planter bed. — Here I had to redo this first attempt to create a riser going up and over the planter bed for this other garden bed.

Close-up of drip irrigation components in a greenhouse, featuring a cut PVC pipe, a connector, and surrounding green plant leaves. — Cutting off part of the length ~ I made the PVC piece shorter, making the horizontal piece closer to the raised bed and added the two metal clips. The clips have to be slipped on BEFORE you push the elbows and PVC piping together. Trying to do it afterwards is tougher (Hubby had to help.). 🙂

I also reused metal clips from the original build. These clips tighten down to hold every intersecting “T” or “elbow” in place, while under pressure, from the water which would be coming into this drip system.

Interior view of a greenhouse featuring a wooden planter bed with drip irrigation and young plants, alongside gardening tools and materials.

The driver drill above was used to tighten these metal clamps, plus a hand tool afterwards to really tighten those clips down.

Here in this garden bed, you can also see the new valves and flat drip tape which were laid to “drip” next to each plant. I got this idea from Laura at Garden Answer from her many video on YouTube.

Close-up of a greenhouse bed with drip irrigation lines and green potato plants growing in rich soil.

In this taller planter bed, I ran six rows of 3′ drip tape connected to separate control valves. At first, they were blowing off so I “turned down” the volume of water coming through the valve connector and that stopped that issue.

This bed is connected to the riser just shown above. 🙂

A view of a raised garden bed in a greenhouse, featuring lush tomato plants supported by trellises and various other young plants growing in the surrounding soil.

Finished for an evening reveal

As the sun was setting, the sky glowed a soft pink and everything took on a peachy-pink hue…

Really lovely!

A potted lemon tree with lush green leaves stands inside a greenhouse, surrounded by gravel and other garden containers.

The lemon trees are enjoying the summertime heat and sunshine ~ much happier outside than indoors during winter. We are planning on heating this greenhouse and double wrapping plastic around the frame in the fall. The trees should be setting fruit by then and we hope to get a heater specifically for greenhouses by then.

Inside view of a greenhouse featuring wooden planter beds, gravel flooring, and various plants including tomato and lemon trees.

I am happy that this greenhouse is complete and that it can finally be shared with you. The shade cloth above is 40% cloth and part of it is doubled over, really providing shade where it is needed during the heat of the day.

Metal planter bed filled with soil and plants, featuring climbing plants and herbs, inside a greenhouse with a brick wall in the background. — One tomato plant is in this bed with basil and the asparagus plants.

The far back bed with the tall tomatoes only has one layer of shade cloth, which is perfect for the tomatoes which love full sun. The other beds get enough side light to keep them happy but not get scorched with summer’s coming heat.

A view of a greenhouse with a curved roof, surrounded by a grassy area and decorative garden elements. A bench is visible in the foreground, and the greenhouse features wooden framing and plastic sheeting.

Now onto moving the compost pile back to its original spot… 😉 Love this pink light bathing the greenhouse and sideyard in its rosy glow!

Thanks for stopping by today and I hope you’ve enjoyed our new greenhouse’s build!

If you missed any of the previous post about rebuilding our greenhouse or the main sprinkler rebuild, here is a quick list:

Let me know what you think about the greenhouse and if you’ve done any major work on your garden recently. I enjoy seeing how everyone’s gardens evolve!

Also, let me know what you think of this post’s title… I used the AI-generated title feature to see what it would write and kind of liked it! Thought I’d try it and see how it flows. 😉

Happy gardening, y’all,