garden:cultivate:tasks:water:drip
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garden:cultivate:tasks:water:drip [2016/11/21 12:22] – davidbac | garden:cultivate:tasks:water:drip [2017/08/24 09:50] (current) – davidbac | ||
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+ | ===== Drip irrigation ===== | ||
+ | I intended to plant more in the farm garden than ever before. I remembered dragging a hose around watering during the previous year and believed I need to automate the process. It is really easy with long rows to damage plants. Also it is impossible to water all plants evenly. | ||
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+ | ==== Planning ==== | ||
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+ | {{ : | ||
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+ | * Group plants with similar water needs | ||
+ | * Decide on plant and row spacing | ||
+ | * Calculate water requirements | ||
+ | * Consider the type of soil | ||
+ | * Design and prepare the lines | ||
+ | * Transplant | ||
+ | * Install the irrigation lines | ||
+ | * Add row covers in the early part of the season | ||
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+ | In the garden at the farm I knew I was planting with wide row spacing and distances between plants so I chose discrete emitters, spaced as far apart as each variety required. So I didn't use a soaker hose, drip tape or sprinklers. The clay soil in this garden disbursed water horizontally quite well so there was plenty of moisture for root systems to spread. In sandy soil I would have planned differently. And if I had been irrigating row crops with close spacing I would have used a different approach. | ||
+ | ==== Benefits ==== | ||
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+ | For me the biggest benefits of drip irrigation are: | ||
+ | * Consistent application for plants in a row | ||
+ | * Controlled and measurable amount of water (based on emitter flow and elapsed time) | ||
+ | * Doesn' | ||
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+ | ==== Concerns ==== | ||
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+ | As I began planning for drip irrigation I wondered if watering individual plants (such as summer and winter squash, and melons) would create dry zones that would be inhospitable to underground micro-organisms. | ||
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+ | I believed this would be less a problem in the clay soil, in which moisture disperses more horizontally than vertically. Two years' experience suggests that moisture spread horizontally for a remarkable distance, stretching a couple of feet away from the drip emitter. The moisture-holding ability of the clay is helpful. | ||
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+ | I suspected that in the Fall City garden' | ||
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+ | ==== In the hoophouse ==== | ||
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+ | {{ : | ||
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+ | I configured the lines to provide equal amounts of water to each row. And each row contained both tomatoes and peppers. | ||
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+ | In 2016 I observed that the peppers needed more water than the tomatoes so for 2017 I will adapted my design: | ||
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+ | * I planted a single row of peppers, spaced at 20 inches apart. | ||
+ | * I spaced tomato plants at 24 inches. | ||
+ | * I put a control valve on each row so I can vary the watering from row to row. | ||
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+ | ==== Outside ==== | ||
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+ | {{ : | ||
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+ | ==== With row covers ==== | ||
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+ | I placed row covers over heat-loving plants early in the season. Using the automated drip irrigation I watered without disturbing the covers. | ||
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+ | ==== Photos ==== | ||
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+ | Here's a [[garden: |