In modern hypermarkets, which are already located not only in large cities, you can buy almost anything, including exotic fruits and vegetables from any country in the world. And indeed, it is pleasant and interesting to taste avocados in a salad, or to make a mojito from rum, lime and mint. But after all, along with unusual products, tomatoes, cucumbers, and potatoes, and cabbage, mostly brought from afar, are also on the shelves. Why give money for the fact that you can grow well in your garden?

True, there is one “but”: you will have to work, because to collect a good harvest you need to prepare the soil, sow the seeds or plant the seedlings, fertilize them, weed, and, of course, constantly water it. And at the same time it is good if the garden is under your window. And if the cottage is a few (tens) kilometers? To go there every day only for watering will be very troublesome and when you consider that most plants, especially in hot, dry summers, require watering both in the morning and in the evening, the beds will simply become a burden. Therefore, the watering process is necessary optimize through automation.

Content

• 1 Consider the advantages of automatic systems.
• 2 Types of irrigation systems
• 3 How does the system work?
• 4 Production of drip irrigation system

Consider the advantages of automatic systems.

1. Minimum effort during operation. There is no need to move the watering hose from place to place, risking damage to seedlings, or carrying heavy buckets of water between the beds. All watering comes down to pressing a button (and there are systems that work without any human participation).
2. Significant water savings. All water intended for irrigation in an automatic system is carefully metered and distributed evenly exactly where it is needed. At the same time, the risk of overfilling is significantly reduced.
3. Huge time saving. While the system automatically irrigates, you can do whatever you want or just relax.
4. Remote control capability. With the help of modern automation systems, the irrigation process can be controlled remotely (for example, via the Internet), sitting at a computer tens of kilometers from the villa. Of course, this pleasure is not cheap, but it will save a lot of nerves.

Types of irrigation systems

The main structural feature of any irrigation system is the one used in it. type of irrigation.

1. Sprinkler installation. They are the most common due to ease of manufacture. They got their name from the term “sprinkling” - that is, the creation of artificial rain. The advantage of this type of irrigation is that it not only moistens the soil, but also the above-ground air, as well as the above-ground part of the plants. Such irrigation systems can be made independently, or can be purchased at the store (“Snail”, “Segner’s wheel”, etc.). static (motionless) and rotary (turning).
2. Installations drip irrigation. It is this type of watering plants that is gaining increasing popularity in central Russia, and we will focus on them in more detail in this article. The principle of operation of drip irrigation is that moisture comes immediately to the roots plants. Due to this, there is a better absorption, and precious moisture is not wasted.

How does the system work?

The standard drip irrigation system consists of the following main elements:

• the head unit, which provides the system with water, performs automatic on / off, regulates the amount of water supplied and its pressure;
• irrigation hoses supplying water to droppers;
• droppers or drip tapes (about them - below).

Droppers are special devices feeding water to the roots of plants. They can be terminal or continuous, with the ability to control the amount of water supplied and without. Drip tapes are small diameter metal tubes. with small holes at short intervals. When picking up droppers and / or droplet tapes in the store, think in advance about what plants you will plant in your garden and how much water they will need.

Drip irrigation system pretty reliable due to its simplicity, care for it consists in periodic cleaning of holes that have become clogged with earth. Naturally, such a system for the winter is completely dismantled.

Production of drip irrigation system

It is not necessary to give a lot of money for the finished system - it is quite possible build yourself from inexpensive materials. So, we need the following materials.

1. Hose or plastic pipes for plumbing. Pipe, of course, preferable, but more expensive. But much safer - the hose is easily damaged when weeding the beds, besides, the pipes are easily and securely interconnected by special tees. Approximate pipe diameter - 20 mm.
2. Connecting elements for pipes and plugs. If you do not find the plugs, they are easy to make yourself planing wood trim the desired diameter.
3. Medical disposable dropper. They will need a lot, one for each three four plants.
4. Water filter. If they are neglected, small holes will clog much more often.

The tools will require simple:

• hacksaw for cutting plastic pipes;
• screwdriver with a millimeter drill;
• Well, a trifle like pliers, scissors etc.

What work needs to be done:

• first need to cut off pipes along the length of the beds;
• in pipes are drilled holes at a distance of about half a meter from each other;
• then produce wiring on beds and we mount system with the help of connecting elements;
• pipe ends shutting down caps;
• в заранее просверленные отверстия in pipes we insert plastic dropper end;
• connect the system to the water supply through the filter and open the water, check the presence of leaks in the wrong places, eliminate;
• we spread the opposite ends of the droppers to the roots of plants and adjustable the intensity of the "dripping" by turning the wheel on the drip.

The system is completely ready and working!

What can be improved:

1. Water in the water supply is usually cold, the plants do not like it. You can organize watering not directly, but through the tank, installed on the site and heated by the sun.
2. Medical droppers are transparent, which makes it possible to gradually develop under exposure to sunlight microalgae. They will inevitably lead to clogging of the system. To avoid this, the dropper can be painted with opaque black paint.
3. In order not to unscrew the water supply tap every time manually, you can use the automatic on / off. However, for many plants (for example, cucumbers) drip irrigation can not be turned off.

And in the end we have working irrigation system on a new progressive technology. Now you do not have to worry about their plants in the hot summer. Moreover, this system cost us nothing, compared to the finished purchase system. By the way, something similar can be built in the apartment, for example, for regular regular watering of the flower garden on the balcony.