Cultivation of useful agricultural crops has been an unimaginably long time ago. The culture of agriculture was constantly developing, new methods of tillage and fertilization of soils, sowing and harvesting, weed and pest control appeared. The irrigation system has also been modified more than once - after all, not a single plant can live without moisture! One of the most useful innovations has been drip irrigation
What is this
We owe a useful invention to Israeli farmers, because it was in the Promised Land that the drip irrigation system was invented, tested and introduced into wide practice. What does she represent? Water with this method of irrigation is supplied to the plants in small portions in the zone of the root system. Adjustment occurs with the help of special devices (droppers-dispensers). A drip irrigation system is especially beneficial in areas where water is scarce and layingplumbing is difficult for various reasons. Moreover, using it, it is more convenient to distribute fertilizers, you can not be afraid of erosion, and the crop with its use ripens faster. Fewer weeds with such irrigation annoys farmers - this is another advantage of the method. Yes, and man-hours, physical forces are saved, spent much more rationally. It's one thing when you walk around a garden plot with "watch" buckets, and quite another when a drip irrigation system does the hard work for you!
Scope of application and design parts list
First of all, this method of irrigation was used for greenhouses. Then it was transferred to open ground, and not only in small private farms, but also in large agricultural associations. The drip irrigation system has proven itself in vegetable growing and horticulture, horticulture, viticulture. It consists of such structural elements as a device for water intake / accumulation, filters (not always), distribution pipes, drip strips, a fertigation unit (an element where fertilizers are added and fed along with water during irrigation). There are two types of drip strips - pipes and tapes. The first are special polyethylene tubes to which internal or external droppers are attached. The latter are made (glued) from strips of the same material and have natural gaps through which water seeps. Both types of material are good when making do-it-yourself volumetric drip irrigation systems. For needssmall home gardens are more suitable fittings and hoses or drip tapes.
The simplest design
We have already talked about the advantages of this method: water is saved, it enters the plants at the right temperature, it is not sprayed on the leaves, thereby preventing fungal diseases from appearing. Moisture comes exactly to the roots, without spreading dirt and dampness around. And between plantings, the land is dry, and therefore there are almost no weeds. In order to make it clear to the uninitiated, let us explain: even the simplest drip irrigation systems, made with their own hands from a barrel and ordinary hoses, filled with rainwater, will provide moisture for a whole 5 days in a bed of 10 meters. And this is enough, including for cabbage with cucumbers, which are very demanding on watering. What do you need to build the most elementary such a system? First, a large barrel. Raise it to about a meter high. It is advisable to pre-embed the faucet. Put a small hose on it. It is needed to attach a fitting if an extensive irrigation system is required. And then connect the usual rubber water hoses, which stretch around the garden. You can connect several segments, so long as they are not full of holes. And plug the loose ends with wooden chopsticks, for example, to avoid water loss.
How to make holes correctly
Now, actually, drip irrigation. Take ordinary self-tapping screws - they will easily go into both plastic and rubber. Near the planted plants, drill with themholes. Just not through! Then unscrew a little, but not completely. And then open the tap little by little and adjust the pressure. How to make drip irrigation accurate: it is enough for 1 drop of water to fall into the ground in a couple of seconds (for moisture-loving crops; for those more resistant to heat, it is possible less often). This is achieved by tightening the screws. During the day, you should observe how quickly the water is absorbed, and adjust the frequency of drops, adjusting to the plants. If you connect irrigation to the water supply, then turn off the tap slowly, as the pressure in the system can be high. And then adjust the water pressure depending on the needs of the planted crops.
Maintenance
As with any mechanism, such drip irrigation must be monitored, because holes with self-tapping screws eventually become clogged with debris and rust. Naturally, less and less water will flow to the plantings. This will become noticeable on a wet spot on the ground. What should be done in this case: just unscrew the screws, clean them and the holes, then put them in place. Once a week, carefully inspect the system and do preventive maintenance in time! If you use drip tapes, then there will be much less problems with pollution. And if you install a special filter, you can not worry about the high performance of the system for a long time.
Factory settings
Compare what a factory drip irrigation system consists of. The price for suchdevices can be different and start from several hundred rubles. So, for example, the popular BP1 Barrel set will cost you almost 4,000 rubles. The cost is determined by the proposed brand of products. They differ from home-made ones, of course, but they are far from always convenient and tailored to the needs of the gardener. So, in the kit for barrel irrigation, you can find a pump, a hose, a watering gun, connectors. A rain water kit is used. For greenhouses, the Israeli system Mgs48 is offered on the market. elgo, designed for approximately 48 drippers. Its average cost is from 1800 rubles. Homemade systems will cost significantly less!
