Bamboo sprayer…

No, it’s not supposed to spray bamboo, and it’s a far cry from a bamboo water-knocker. But I have been trying to get creative about how I use micro-sprinkler parts. I have a lot of bamboo sitting around (cut at my parent’s house over Christmas), and I love the use of it in Japanese gardens. Plus, bamboo is one of the ultimates in renewable materials.

I’d run out of the pre-made 1-foot stakes that have micro-sprinkler heads, but still had plenty of everything else… 180º- and 360º spray heads, tubing, t-joints, etc. I also had a few extra pieces of bamboo around, stuff in the one- to three-foot range. I wanted more water going to my vegetable beds, and needed a taller sprayer to reach the tops of the plants.

So I made some 45º angle cuts in a two-foot piece, used a 1/4-inch paddle bit to drill out the nodes, and attached a 1-foot metal “spike” to the bottom of the bamboo to help hold it upright. I threaded some 1/4-inch undrilled micro-tubing through the bamboo and attached one of the 180º sprayheads to the top. I secured that with a tiny piece of copper wire threaded through two 1/16″ holes drilled in the bamboo.

I hooked it up and turned on the sprinkler system, but was a little disappointed at first. No flow from the bamboo sprayer. But everything else in the line seemed to be working, and there was adequate pressure when I removed the blue spray head. Turns out there was simply a bit of dirt clogging the spray head. I had forgotten to flush the lines before adding the spray head.

This was a quick weekend project – about 30 minutes to figure out and make. And it’s kinda cool looking. I intend to make a few more to replace some of the troublesome pre-made ones or to augment dry ares of the garden.