Hanging baskets with colorful flowers are an extremely popular and easy way to beautify a house or commercial building. But because they are normally elevated, most of us consider them more difficult to water. Consequently, such baskets are often watered by hand. Too often have I seen a person perched on a ladder or chair using a watering can or hose.

We are creatures of habit and are used to seeing irrigation devices at ground level. But there is no reason not to elevate these devices. Even if the water source is at ground level, water under pressure will travel upwards.

Hydraulically speaking, you would still have approximately 30 psi of static pressure at a height of 10 feet if your ground level water pressure were 34 psi.

So be prepared to change your thinking and realize that water under pressure can travel uphill and still have sufficient energy (pressure) to properly spray downward.

This type of irrigation, known as overhead irrigation, is often used in commercial greenhouse or nursery operations where the piping network and sprinkler heads are elevated and the water sprays downward to the plant.

Conventional thinking is that either a sprinkler or drip system would be appropriate for hanging baskets. Both of these are possible, but there are a few drawbacks. Most sprinklers or spray heads will have large spray patterns with most of the water falling outside of the container. Drip irrigation can be applied more locally but the problem is that the water from a drip emitter into a hanging basket will tend to move straight down with very little lateral spread. The result is that only a small part of the soil is wetted.

Two new concepts are now available that will allow overhead watering directly into the container without overspraying:

• the DIAL-A-FLOT adjustable fan spray

• the DURA-FLO JRT watering ring

The DIAL-A-FLOT adjustable fan spray is a hybrid between a spray nozzle and a drip emitter. The coverage area can be adjusted to suit the container size.

The DIAL-A-FLOT is screwed into the end of a rigid riser and hangs over the basket. The other end of the rigid riser is attached to an overhead polyethylene supply tube, often supported by the beam from which the basket is hung. The DIAL-A-FLOT emitter is positioned about 6 inches above the top of the plant.

The spray pattern can be adjusted from a simple drip (about 1 gph), up to a maximum circular wetting pattern of about 24 inches (about 8 gph). The advantage is that this product can be finely adjusted so that the area of coverage matches the basket diameter. The spray is very gentle and uniform and watering times of approximately five minutes are normally adequate, but this may have to be increased or decreased depending on specific conditions. The soil is thoroughly wetted, excess water drains out, and the leaves are cleaned and cooled. The DIAL-A-FLOT cap is easily removed and cleaned if necessary. If a particular hanging basket is removed the cap is rotated to the off position.

The DURA-FLO JRT watering ring is a circular ring of tubing that contains closely spaced turbulent flow drip emitters. Water drips downward from these emitters. This ring is placed on the top of the basket and fed by micro tubing.

To use this product, measure the top diameter of the basket. For example, assume the diameter is 12 inches and we are trying to form a ring of dripperline a couple inches smaller than the basket diameter. We could choose a ring diameter of approximately 10 inches. To calculate the length of dripperline needed to form this ring, multiply the 10-inch ring diameter by a factor of 3. (To be more precise you should use 3.14 )

Now take this 30-inch length of dripperline, form into a circle and splice it together with a barbed tee. Rest this ring on the basket (either above the flowers or on the potting medium) with the vertical leg of the tee pointing upward. Using polyethylene tubing, connect the tee to the supply poly tubing above.

Using a 30-inch length of 6-inch spaced DURA-FLO JRT dripperline to form the ring will give five drip emission points to ensure good spread of the water. Expect watering times of five minutes per day, but this will depend on climatic conditions, etc.

With both these systems, because of the low flow rates, small polyethylene micro-tubing can be used that is quite inconspicuous. Also, both these proposed options can be tied into a manual valve or integrated with the automatic timer system. Keep in mind that these concepts need reasonably clean water (a 150-mesh filter is recommended) and an operating pressure in the 20 to 30 psi range (a pressure regulator is recommended).

Both systems are very easy to install, economical and should encourage healthy plants. And the best part is no more ladders, step stools and watering cans.