Hanging Basket Assemblies

A hanging basket line is an overhead lateral with drop assemblies spaced along it, each lowering a sprinkler, mister or fogger head to basket height. The assembly decides whether the head hangs straight, stays put in a breeze and puts water in the basket instead of on the crop below. ML Irrigation supplies the Netafim Hanging Assembly (0300HSAC) and the Senninger Drop Adapter Assemblies from Hunter, and ships to growers in all 50 states from Fountain Inn, South Carolina.

Which drop assembly suits the head you plan to hang?

Pick the head first, then the assembly that carries it. The Netafim Hanging Assembly (0300HSAC) is a flexible drop: Super Flex UV White 4/7 mm tubing with a stabilizer weight, in 12", 18", 24", 30", 36" and 48" tube lengths plus a 48" extension, connecting to the PE lateral barb x barb or barb x female. It takes a sprinkler, mister or fogger head, so one drop serves a basket line that needs wetting or a propagation house that wants humidity from a fogger.

The Senninger Drop Adapter Assemblies from Hunter take the other approach: an inverted drop built to mount Senninger's own inverted mini-Wobbler, Mister or Micro-Sprinkler, over baskets or bench work. If your benches already run Senninger heads, this keeps one head family in the house.

Set drop length by the distance from overhead line to basket rim. Baskets hung at two heights on one line need two lengths, and a house that changes basket size between seasons is a case for the Netafim extension. Match the head's throw to basket spacing so neighbors are covered without soaking the aisle; see micro-sprinklers for head choices.

What does the overhead line need, and where do basket lines go wrong?

Every drop is a small low-pressure head, and a long line of them depends on pressure control and clean water. Regulate the zone so the first and last drop deliver the same pattern; Senninger's range through Hunter runs from the 1/2" MPR at half a gallon a minute to the 2" PRU at 100 gpm. Filter the supply; mister and fogger orifices are small, and a clogged head shows up as a dry basket days later. Add up every drop's flow before sizing the lateral and zone valve.

The mistakes we see, nursery after nursery: drops too short, leaving the head in the foliage wetting one side; unweighted drops that swing and spray the aisle; baskets on the same zone as a crop below with a different water need; and forgetting that a basket line drips on whatever is under it. On swing, the lines differ: Netafim uses a stabilizer weight on flexible tube, Senninger an adapter assembly built for its own inverted heads. Send us the head, spacing and drop distance and ask us about sizing. Request a quote or start with pressure regulators.