Drip Irrigation for vegetable gardens

June 08, 2016

Those who maintain gardens know that it is no mean task. You’ve got to keep track of all your plants and their needs, while making sure that you’re not wasting any resources at hand. And what more important resource is there than water?
So, if you have a green thumb and gardening is your passion, water is your best friend. There is a need to strike a balance between ensuring that your flora gets enough water at the right times and also that it never gets wasted.
Doing this is made much easier with a drip irrigation system. If you haven’t tried it out yet, then you definitely need to get started!

What is Drip Irrigation?

Drip irrigation can be defined a procedure of controlled irrigation in which water is released slowly to the root system of a large number of plants. Utilizing a drip irrigation system the water is directly delivered to the root zone of your plant. Here it is allowed to percolate into the soil one drop at a time.
Consequently, there is almost no chance of losing water through surface runoff or evaporation. Most of the nutrients for plant growth and the water are absorbed by the plant and give it the best opportunity to thrive.

Advantages of Drip Irrigation:

Drip irrigation can be compared to door-to-door service which gets your plants the resources they need, exactly when and in which amount that they need it.
It discourages the growth of weeds, as there isn’t any surplus water in the soil.
For people who have incredibly busy schedules, drip irrigation saves time and effort.
You don’t need to have extensive equipment at home like sprinklers or hose pipes, and you can reduce manual labor.
Because plants grown through drip irrigation aren’t fighting for resources, they grow much more quickly and are much healthier.
Also, as these plants don’t grow in wet foliage, they are protected from certain diseases like powdery mildew.

Read about diseases & treatment of indoor plants.

Getting Started With Drip Irrigation:

So, if you now want to get started with Drip Irrigation, then the best method undoubtedly is the soaker hose. It is the easiest to experiment with drip irrigation and doesn’t require elaborate equipment.
All you need is a soaker hose, which oozes water at regular intervals when connected to the water supply at your home. You can time the watering through mechanical timers that are also commercially available. Buy watering tools online India.
This ensures that you don’t have to keep a regular check on the system. Initially, this works best with crops planted in rows and later on can be branched out to a more sophisticated system once you plant bigger plants.

Many problems, one solution:

Drip irrigation is a solution that may seem simple at first but will solve so many problems in one go that you’ll wonder why you didn’t think of it in the first place. Get your plants the care that they deserve, while saving time and effort simultaneously.