Home and Garden Irrigation Appling the Technology

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Home and Garden Irrigation Appling the Technology

• By
• Dr. Robert Tomesh
• UW Extension Specialist

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Do you live in the ideal climate where you
receive just enough rain just when plants need
it?Irrigation is the art of supplementing water
as needed when weather doesnt cooperate.
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Irrigation reality

• Monitor weather supply of water
• Know soil structure and texture
• Organic matter
• Mulch
• Clay, silt and sand
• Understand plant water demands

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Soil Composition

• A given volume of soil consists of four parts
  mineral matter, organic matter, water, and air.

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Soil Texture

• Sand particles can be seen by the naked eye.
• A microscope must be used to see silt particles.
• An electron microscope is needed to see clay
  particles.

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What are the effects of plant water stress?

• -Reduced root development
• -Reduced nutrient absorption and translocation
• -Reduced photosynthesis and growth
• -Reduced flowering, fruit and seed
• -Reduced fruit and vegetable size
• -Reduced fresh weight
• -Deformities, ie. blossom end rot

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The goal in watering is to keep the top foot or
two of soilmoist.

• Dry soil stresses plants by tying up nutrients,
  killing delicate root tips and depleting water
  from the plants.
• Light watering on dry soil encourages shallow
  root development.
• Soggy soil drowns or suffocates the plant, kills
  root tips, and encourages root rots.

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Water frequently and keep the soil evenly moist.

• Light watering on dry soils results in shallow
  roots which susceptible to drought, unable to
  obtain nutrients and more apt to wind damage.

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Water Application Figures

• One inch of water per week.
• It takes 27,000 gallons of water to equal one
  inch application per acre.
• One inch over 100 square feet equals 60 gallons
  (. 6 gallons/ Sq. Ft.).
• Increase to 1.5 inch application weekly for sands
  (two separate applications).

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Estimating Square Footage to meet Plant Water
Needs (100 sq. ft. equals 60 gallons)

• Lawns - calculate sq. ft. to be watered
• Vegetables - calculate 2 sq. ft. per linear foot
  of row
• Trees and shrubs calculate square footage to
  the drip-line

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Calculate Water Delivery

• Time needed to fill up one gallon jug with
  delivery unit (hose, drip unit, sprinkler etc.).
• Time needed per gallon X number of gallons needed
  equal total period of application.

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Soil Water holding Capacity(Available water)

• Sand .5 inches/cu. ft.
• Loamy sands .8 inches/cu. ft.
• Silt loams 2.0 inches/cu. ft.
• Silt clays 2.5 inches/cu. ft.
• (Sands would need irrigation with less water but
  more often to meet plant needs of one inch per
  week.)

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Available water to plants is more crucial at
certain stages ofdevelopment.

• Transplantingaccommodate root development
• Seed germination
• Flowering
• Fruit sizinglast stages of development

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Irrigation Methods

• Hand watering
• Surface or furrow irrigation
• Sub-irrigation
• Overhead sprinkle systems
• Drip or trickle irrigation

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Hand Watering

• Often applied too rapidly resulting in run-off
• Often, not enough is appliedcalculate the need
  per surface area (1 inch/100 sq. ft. is 60
  gallons)
• Time consuming

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Surface, Furrow, Flood Irrigation

• Used for cranberries in Wisconsin
• The flood-type system are usually operated
  entirely by gravity and water control is
  difficult.
• As much as 40 to 60 percent of the water will be
  lost to evaporation, run-off, or deep percolation.

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Sub-irrigation

• The term refers to any method of watering plants
  by allowing water to soak up into a plant by
  introducing the water from the bottom.
• It is a common method for watering bed plants in
  greenhouses, pots, perennial crops like
  raspberries, sugar cane, athletic fields.
• Most economic and efficient use of water.

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Overhead Sprinkler Systems
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Sprinkler Irrigation

• Sprinkler irrigation is like natural rainfall,
  applying water to all areas.
• A sprinkler has one or more nozzles mounted on a
  rigid frame or rotating mechanism to deliver
  water.
• Used for supplemental watering, frost
  protection, cooling, bloom delay, maintain turf,
  deliver waste water (different design criteria
  for delivery).

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Micro Sprinklers

• Micro sprinklers and sprayers are available in a
  variety of styles and configurations and like
  drip emitters they operate at a low-pressure
  range of 15 to 30 PSI. Micro sprinklers and
  sprayers are rated by flow rate, wetting
  diameter, or radius, and the spray method

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Micro-sprinkler

• Pop-up Sprayer
• Micro-sprinkler
• Fogger / Mister
• Spray Jet
• Stick / Spitter

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Center Pivot Overhead Sprinkle(Covers 130 acre
areas)

• This self-propelled sprinkler system rotates
  around the pivot point, has the lowest labor
  requirements of the systems considered,
  constructed using a span of pipe connected to
  moveable towers and frequently used for
  commercial vegetables.

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Drip/Trickle Irrigation

• Drip irrigation is the application of
  supplemental water at a slow, controlled rate
  through an emitter.
• An emitter is a small device with very small
  openings designed to meter the water out of a
  supply line.
• Suited for orchard crops, vegetables, brambles,
  nursery stock, landscaped ornamentals.

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Drip/Trickle Irrigation

• Porous pipe perforated pipe
• Soaker hose woven fabric hose
• Emitter tubes
• Drip irrigation, T-tape, double walled emitter
  tubing

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Drip/Trickle Irrigation Design
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Drip Irrigation for Vegetables

• Provides each plant with near-optimal soil
  moisture.
• Increases yield and decreases both water
  requirements and labor.
• Can be automated as easily.

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• Drip irrigation extends watering times for
  plants, and prevents soil erosion and nutrient
  runoff.
• Fertilizer can be added and used more
  efficiently.
• Drip irrigation systems use 30 - 50 less
  water.

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Drip Irrigation for Trees
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Drip Irrigation For Trees
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Micro-tube Delivery Device

• Micro-tube is a small bore black polythene tube.
• Also called the "spaghetti tube" .

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Emiter Tube
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Emitter Tubes for Tree Fruit
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House/Yard Drip Irrigation SystemDesign
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Essential to any system anti- backflow device
and filter
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T-tape, double walled drip tape
Outer drip holes every 12 inches
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T-tape/Feeder Line
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Head Assembly
Double drip tape
Manifolds
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Soaker Hose Design

• Perforated hose or woven fabric.
• Sweat" water from tiny holes along the length of
  the hose.
• Hoses can be set on the ground or buried under
  mulch.

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Sprinkler Hose Design

• Sprinkler hoses spray a fine mist of water into
  the air.
• They look like flat hoses with perforations all
  along their length.
• Holes can become plugged by particles and
  bacteria.

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Porous Pipe

• Soaker tubing seeps water the entire distance of
  the pipe.
• New produce produced in part from recycled
  automobile tires.
• Not recommended for hilly terrain.

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Fertigation

• The most common nutrient applied by fertigation
  is nitrogen. Other nutrients include phosphorus,
  potassium, sulfur, zinc and iron.
• May also improve nutrient efficiency by applying
  nutrients closer to the plant.
• Highly dissolvable fertilizer products are
  designed for delivery systems.

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The goal in watering is to keep the top foot or
two of soilmoist.

• Dry soil stresses plants by tying up nutrients,
  killing delicate root tips and depleting water
  from the plants.
• Light watering on dry soil encourages shallow
  root development.
• Soggy soil drowns or suffocates the plant, kills
  root tips, and encourages root rots.

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Water frequently and keep the soil evenly moist.

• One inch of water per week is the amount needed
  for plants to remain healthy in most soils.
• It takes 27,000 gallons of water to equal one
  inch application.
• One inch over 10 square feet equals 6 gallons.

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Irrigation Methods

• Hand watering
• Surface or furrow irrigation
• Sub-irrigation
• Overhead sprinkle systems
• Drip or trickle irrigation
• Porous pipe perforated pipe
• Soaker and Sprinkler Hose
• Drip Irrigation/Emitter tubes
• T-tape, Double walled tubing

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Thank You

• A special thanks to the suppliers of home and
  garden irrigation products.