Do-it-yourself drip irrigation in the greenhouse and in the garden: components, diagrams, photos, videos

Providing water to plants and plantings is one of the concerns of homeowners. Someone waters vegetable beds, someone flower beds and lawns, and someone needs to provide water to the garden. In any case, the procedure takes a lot of time. But that’s not all: with the usual method, a crust forms on the surface, which prevents plants from developing, so the soil has to be loosened. All these problems are solved by drip irrigation of plants. You can buy ready-made kits, order turnkey development and installation, or you can do everything yourself. Here’s how to make drip irrigation yourself and will be discussed in this article.

Principle of work and varieties

This technology was tested several decades ago. Its results were so impressive that the system was widely adopted. The basic idea is that water is supplied to the roots of plants. There are two ways:

• poured onto the surface near the stem;
• is fed underground into the root formation zone.

The first method is easier to install, the second is more expensive: you need a special hose or drip tape for underground laying, a decent amount of land work. For a temperate climate, there is not much difference – both methods work well. But in regions with very hot summers, underground laying proved to be better: less water evaporates and more of it gets to plants.

There are gravity-fed systems – they require a water tank installed at a height of at least 1,5 meters, there are systems with stable pressure. They have a pump and a control group – pressure gauges and valves that create the required force. There are fully automated drip irrigation systems. In its simplest form, this is a valve with a timer that opens the water supply for a given period of time. More sophisticated systems can control the flow rate for each of the water lines separately, testing soil moisture and determining the weather. These systems operate under the guidance of processors, operating modes can be set from the control panel or computer.

Advantages and disadvantages

Drip irrigation has many advantages and all of them are significant:

• Significantly reduced labor intensity. The system can be fully automated, but even in the simplest version, irrigation requires literally a few minutes of your attention.
• Reduced water consumption. This happens due to the fact that moisture is supplied only under the roots, other zones are excluded.
• Eliminates the need for frequent loosening. With a dosed supply of water to a small area, a crust does not form on the soil, respectively, it does not need to be broken.
• Plants develop better, yield increases. Due to the fact that water is supplied to one zone, the root system develops in this place. It has more fine roots, becomes more lumpy, absorbs moisture faster. All this contributes to rapid growth and more abundant fruiting.
• It is possible to organize root feeding. Moreover, the consumption of fertilizers due to the point supply is also minimal.

The economic efficiency of drip irrigation systems has been proven repeatedly, even on an industrial scale. In private greenhouses and gardens, the effect will be no less significant: the cost of creating a system can be reduced to a small amount, and all the pluses will remain.

There are also disadvantages, but they are very few:

• For normal operation water filtration required, which is an additional cost. The system can function without filters, but then it is necessary to consider a purge / flush system to eliminate blockages.
• Droppers get clogged over time and need to be cleaned or replaced.
• If thin-walled belts are used, they can be damaged by birds, insects or rodents. There are places of unscheduled water consumption.
• The device requires an investment of time and money.
• Periodic maintenance required – blow out the pipes or clean the droppers, check the fastening of the hoses, change the filters.

As you can see, the list of shortcomings is rather big, but they are not very serious. This is a really useful thing in the garden, in the garden, on the lawn, flower bed or in the greenhouse.

Components and layout options

Drip irrigation systems can be organized with any source of water. A well, well, river, lake, centralized water supply, even rainwater in tanks will do. The main thing is that there is enough water.

A main pipeline is connected to the source, which brings water to the irrigation site. Then it goes along one of the sides of the irrigated area, at the end it is muffled.

Opposite the beds, tees are inserted into the pipeline, to the side outlet of which drip hoses (pipes) or tapes are attached. They have special droppers through which water is supplied to the plants.

Between the outlet from the source and the first branch to the garden, it is desirable to install a filter or filter system. They are not needed if the system is powered by domestic plumbing. If you pump water from a lake, river, rainwater tank, filters are required: there can be a lot of pollution and the system will clog too often. Types of filters and their number is determined depending on the condition of the water.

How to purify water from a well and a well is described here. 

Drip Hoses

Hoses for drip irrigation are sold in bays from 50 to 1000 meters. They already have water points built in: labyrinths through which water flows before entering the outlet. These oozing hoses provide the same amount of water throughout the line, regardless of terrain. Due to this labyrinth, the flow rate at any point of irrigation is almost the same.

They differ in the following characteristics:

• • Tube stiffness. Drip hoses – there are hard, there are soft. The soft ones are called tapes, the hard ones are called hoses. Hard ones can be used up to 10 seasons, soft ones – up to 3-4. Ribbons are:
    • Thin-walled – with a wall thickness of 0,1-0,3 mm. They are laid only on the surface, their service life is 1 season.
    • Thick-walled tapes have a wall of 0,31-0,81 mm, the service life is up to 3-4 seasons, they are available for both ground and underground laying.

• Diameter. Affects performance and maximum line length. The inner diameter of hoses can be from 14 to 25 mm, tapes from 12 to 22 mm. Among the tapes, the most common size is 16 mm.
• water consumption. It is selected depending on the required intensity of watering. Hoses can deliver 0,6-8,0 l/h, thin-walled tapes 0,25-2,9 l/h, thick-walled tapes 2,0-8,0 l/h. This characteristic is the flow rate through each dropper.
• Distance between droppers. It can be from 10 to 100 cm. It is chosen depending on the required amount of water and on how often the plants are planted.
• Droppers can be with one or two outlets. At the same time, the water consumption remains stable. Only the depth and area over which the water spreads changes. With one exit, the area is smaller, the depth is greater, with two exits, the irrigation area increases, the depth decreases.
  

• Laying method – aboveground, underground, combined.
• Operating pressure. It varies widely depending on the manufacturer: from 0,4 bar to 1,4 bar. Choose depending on whether you have a gravity system, pumps are used to supply water, or everything is connected to the water supply.

The maximum length of the irrigation line is determined so that the unevenness of the water output at the beginning and at the end of the tape does not exceed 10-15%. For hoses, it can be 1500 meters, for tapes – 600 meters. For private use, such values ​​uXNUMXbuXNUMXbare not in demand, but it is useful to know)).

Droppers

Sometimes it is more convenient to use not tapes, but droppers. These are separate devices that are inserted into the hole in the hose and through which water is supplied under the root of the plant. They can be installed in arbitrary steps – put a few pieces in one place, and then a few in another. This is convenient when drip irrigation of shrubs or trees is organized.

There are two types – with a normalized (constant) and adjustable release of water. The body is usually plastic, on the one hand there is a fitting, which is inserted with force into the hole made in the hose (sometimes rubber rings are used for sealing).

There are also compensated droppers – and non-compensated ones. When using compensated at any point in the irrigation line, the water output will be the same (approximately), regardless of the terrain and location (at the beginning or at the end of the line).

There are also spider-type devices. This is when several thin tubes are connected to one outlet. This makes it possible to simultaneously water several plants from one water outlet (reduces the number of droppers).

How to make a small greenhouse can be read here. And how to make the garden beautiful is written here. 

Main pipes and fittings

When creating a system for laying the main pipeline from the water source to the irrigation zone, plastic pipes and fittings are used from:

• polypropylene (PPR);
• polyvinyl chloride (PVC);
• polyethylene:
  • high pressure (HPV);
  • low pressure (PND).

All of these pipes tolerate contact with water well, do not corrode, are chemically neutral and do not react to fertilization. For watering a small greenhouse, garden, lawn, a diameter of 32 mm is most often used.

Tees are installed at the outlets of the lines, to the side outlet of which a drip hose or tape is connected. Since they are smaller in diameter, adapters may be needed, and their outer diameter should be equal to the inner diameter of the hose (or slightly less). You can attach tapes / hoses to fittings using metal clamps.

Also, taps can be made through special fittings, which are installed in a hole of the required diameter made in the hose (as in the photo above).

Sometimes, after the tee, a tap is installed on each water distribution line, which allows you to turn off the lines. This is convenient if drip irrigation is diluted for moisture-loving plants and those that do not like excess water.

If you are reluctant to choose components and select sizes, fitting diameters, you can buy ready-made drip irrigation kits from various manufacturers.

Do-it-yourself drip irrigation: device examples

There are many options for the device of the system – it easily adapts to any conditions. Most often, the question arises of how to organize irrigation independent of electricity. This can be done if you install a sufficiently voluminous water tank at a height of at least 1,5 meters. This creates a minimum pressure of approximately 0,2 atm. It is enough for watering a small area of ​​uXNUMXbuXNUMXbthe garden or garden.

Water can be supplied to the tank from the water supply, pumped up by a pump, drained from the roofs, even filled with buckets. A tap is made at the bottom of the tank, to which the main pipeline is connected. Further, the system is standard: a filter (or a cascade of filters) is installed on the pipeline before the first branch to the irrigation line, and then the wiring goes through the beds.

For the convenience of introducing fertilizers on the highway, it is possible to provide for the installation of a special unit. In the simplest case, this is, as in the photo above, it can be a container with legs, in the bottom of which a hole is made and a hose is inserted. A shut-off valve (faucet) is also needed. It cuts into the pipeline through a tee.

If necessary, you can water both shrubs and fruit trees. The whole difference lies in the fact that the tape or hose is laid around the barrel at some distance. One line is assigned to each tree, bushes can be watered several pieces on one line. Only in this case, you need to use a regular hose, into which droppers with the required water flow should be inserted.

If the low pressure in the system does not suit you, you can install a pump to increase the pressure on the main water supply (see the photo below) or a full-fledged pumping station. They will provide water even far located areas.

Can water be supplied directly from the source? It is possible, but not desirable. And this is due not to technical difficulties – there are not so many of them, but to the fact that plants do not like cold water. That is why most small-scale drip irrigation systems – for greenhouses, vegetable gardens, orchards and vineyards – use storage tanks. In them, the water is heated, and then diluted around the site.

Read about how to make high beds to increase yields. 

Drip irrigation: how to calculate the system

The capacity from which water is supplied to the system can be one – common, as in the picture above, or separate for each section. With a significant distance between the irrigation objects, this can be more profitable than pulling the main pipeline.

The required volume is calculated depending on the number of plants and the volume of water for their normal development. How much water is needed for watering vegetables depends on the climate and soils. On average, you can take 1 liter per plant, 5 liters per bush and 10 liters per tree. But this is the same as the “average temperature in the hospital”, although it is suitable for approximate calculations. Count the number of plants, multiply by the consumption per day, sum everything up. To the resulting figure, add 20-25% of the stock and you know the required volume of capacity.

There are no problems with calculating the length of the line and drip hoses. The main is the distance from the tap on the tank to the ground, then along the ground to the place of irrigation, and then along the end side of the beds. Adding all these lengths, the required length of the main pipeline is obtained. The length of the tubes depends on the length of the beds and on whether water will be distributed from one tube to one or two rows (for example, using spider droppers, you can dilute water for two to four rows at the same time).

By the number of tubes, the number of tees or fittings and taps (if you install them) is determined. For each branch using tees, we take three clamps: press the hose against the fitting.

The most complex and expensive part is the filters. If water is pumped from an open source – a lake or a river – a coarse filter is needed first – gravel. Then there should be fine filters. Their type and quantity depend on the state of the water. When using water from a well or a well, a coarse filter can be omitted: primary filtration occurs on the suction hose (if a pumping station is used). In general, there are so many cases, so many solutions, but filters are needed, otherwise the droppers will quickly clog.

Homemade drip hoses and drippers

One of the most significant cost items for an independent device of a system from ready-made components is droppers or drip tapes. They, of course, provide the supply of the same amount of water throughout and the flow is stable, but in small areas this is not so necessary. It is possible to regulate the supply and flow with taps built into the beginning of the irrigation line. Therefore, there are many ideas that allow you to distribute water under plants using ordinary hoses. See one of them in the video.

It is difficult to call this system drip irrigation. It is rather root watering: water is brought under the root in a trickle, but it works, maybe only a little worse and is more suitable for plants with a root system developed in depth. This method will be good for trees, fruit bushes, grapes. They require a significant amount of water, which must go deep into a decent distance, and this homemade drip irrigation system can provide this.

In the second video, really drip irrigation is organized. This was done with the help of medical droppers. If you have the opportunity to stock up on such used material, it will turn out to be very cheap.

The amount of water supplied is regulated by a wheel. From one hose, you can supply water to three and four rows – if you take a hose of sufficient diameter, you can connect not three devices to it, but more. The length of the dropper tubes makes it possible to water two rows on each side. So the costs will be really small.

Droppers can be used almost without altering. This is if the system was with a bag. An example is in the photo.

You can almost also do drip irrigation for houseplants. It is suitable for those flowers that like constant moisture.

You can read about how to make a pond in the country here. Several types of beautiful and inexpensive tracks can be found here (with recommendations for their manufacture)

The cheapest drip irrigation: from plastic bottles

There is the cheapest and fastest way to organize the supply of water to plants without hoses and large containers. You will only need plastic bottles and small lengths – 10-15 cm each – thin tubes.

Cut off the bottom of the bottles. So that a cover is obtained from the bottom. So the water will not evaporate. But you can cut off the bottom and completely. At a distance of 7-8 cm from the cap in the bottle, make a hole into which a thin tube is inserted at a slight angle. Dig the bottle with the cork down or tie it to the peg, and stick the peg into the ground next to the plant, pointing the tube to the root. If there is water in the bottle, it will run down the tube and drip under the plant.

The same design can be done by turning the bottle upside down. But this option is less convenient: it is more difficult to fill in water, you will need a watering can. How it looks like, see the picture below.

As you can see, there is a second option for drip irrigation from plastic bottles. A wire is stretched over the bed, bottles are tied to it in the bottom or lid of which holes are made.

There is another photo option for using bottles, but with standard drippers for irrigation. They are fixed on the neck of the bottles and in this form are installed under the bush.

This option, of course, is not ideal, but it will enable plants to develop better if you can rarely visit the country house. And two liters from a bottle can be decisive in the battle for the harvest.