Drip Irrigation System

A drip irrigation system is potentially one of the best methods for watering your lawns, flower beds and gardens, especially where water conservation or regular droughts are a concern. The main working concept of a drip irrigation system, that has been effectively designed, is to ensure as little water as possible is lost through evaporation. In addition to this, it can also guarantee that the vast majority of water will go where it is actually intended, as opposed to being filtered off into a city’s sewer system for example.

One of the major advantages of creating a drip irrigation system, and maintaining it correctly, is that it is able to control the exact amount of water that will come into contact with your crops, their leaves, stems and any specific fruit you have in your garden. This will help to avoid many of the diseases that are commonplace in a moist environment. It is also a fantastic way to ensure that your fruit does not become wet. When fruit does become wet and eventually comes into contact with direct sunlight, it is prone to rotting.

Should you wish to set up a drip irrigation system at home, it is typically best to ensure the system is buried well beneath the surface dirt. This will ensure that your system is well protected from animals and others who are likely to walk through the area. Rather than waiting for water to soak through the surface dirt, a drip irrigation system will ensure that your plant’s roots are directly exposed to water. A plant whose roots have been directly exposed to water will find this extremely beneficial especially during long periods of dry weather.

Drip irrigation systems are often used in far larger settings, such as a farm. One method of using this system would be to administer agricultural chemicals. Generally agricultural plants are sprayed from above the ground, whereas the watering system is typically below. This may eventually lead to leaching of fertilizer. Making the change to a drip irrigation system can prove to be fairly costly, although it will without doubt pay for itself in the long.

Another huge benefit of using a drip irrigation system is when you have landscape or fields that are uneven or oddly shaped. Unfortunately, a conventional irrigation system will find difficulties in reaching many of these areas or uneven fields, whereas, a drip irrigation system is able to control the flow of water throughout the entire area. Conventional systems may cause pooling of water, or some may even run off, however, this need never be a problem with drip irrigation.

You are actually able to automate a drip irrigation system. This is most often used by farmers during periods of drought. If a drip irrigation system is automated, you are able to control the exact amount of water you will need to use at very specific times. This can ensure that your crops will never be over watered, or watered when there is a high risk of the crops being burnt such as when the sun is high in the afternoon.

Drip irrigation is often referred to as trickle irrigation as this is the specific method used to water your plants. As water is carried directly to the base of each individual plant, it will then drip slowly thus ensuring as little water is wasted as possible. You may believe that drip irrigation systems are best used in farms and large gardens, although they are known to be extremely effective in any home garden. In fact you can even use this type of system to provide water to houseplants. A drip irrigation system can be customized fairly easily, and even if you believe you are an inexperienced gardener you should have no problem setting one up.

The only real disadvantage of using a drip irrigation system is the maintenance that may be required. Unfortunately, there are various components involved and you may often find the parts will need replacing. Occasionally, parts have been known to come loose which may lead to water being wasted. You will also find that the cost of materials may prove to be expensive in order to initially set your system up. Drip irrigation systems may also clog if they have not been regularly maintained, or if they are using unfiltered water.

However, with that said, the advantages of using a drip irrigation system far outweigh the disadvantages. This is, without doubt, the ideal watering method and is able to save you both water and fertilizer. Drip irrigation can also help to reduce soil erosion and the leaching of nutrients. This is achieved by specifically directing water only to the places where it is needed the most. Potentially the greatest advantage of using a drip irrigation system is the amount of time, labor and energy it will save you. Should you wish to purchase a standard home drip irrigation system, all the components can be bought from most hardware or gardening stores.

This Drip Irrigation System Review is Written/Updated on Jan 7th, 2011 and filed under Home Improvement. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

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