The alternative for tree irrigation: drip irrigation
Watering trees seems like a cheap and easy solution to irrigate them. But that is the way to lose control on a successful yield. Not all the water ends up at the correct spot and fungi have free range. We advise growers to use a drip irrigation system. We tell you more about it.
Underground drip irrigation
Irrigating trees from day one is not efficient. In the first phase the plant benefits from targeted irrigation in the root zone.
Install thicker hoses of 20 millimetres underground. Or choose for a wider drip tape. Take into account that tree growers often hoe mechanically. So, the piping must be buried at least five centimetres deep.
Suggestions in trees irrigation
Targeted watering vs irrigating trees
In growing trees it is all about volume. The sales price depends on the diameter of the trunk. The larger the diameter, the higher the yield. With drip irrigation the grower’s watering is targeted and therefore waters less.
Growers that irrigate trees with for instance a reel, waste in comparison more than half. So, the amount of water is not utilised optimally. That makes drip irrigation more cost efficient than watering.
Installation of irrigation systems
Growers plant trees at a distance of 30 centimetres from each other. Maintain that distance for the drippers too.
If the trees start to grow, the growers move them, and they are placed at a distance of 50 centimetres from each other. Growers simply move the irrigation system with them.
Automated irrigation
For growers of trees who have to water 10 to 20 hectares, drip irrigation is extremely profitable.
Automate the irrigation system and the grower does not have to mind it at all anymore. Via an app he checks the moisture sensors. If these indicate that the soil is not saturated enough, then he increases the frequency of watering or the amount of water to be dispersed.