Do-it-yourself drip irrigation of cucumbers in the greenhouse and open ground

Table Of Contents

How to water cucumbers in the greenhouse and in the open field
Irrigation systems
How to properly organize bottle watering

Drip irrigation of cucumbers in a greenhouse is easy to organize without the involvement of specialists and the purchase of ready-made systems. It is only necessary to decide in advance on the schemes of future plantings and evaluate your own possibilities of control over the process - how much time you are ready to devote to caring for cucumbers during irrigation and how often you can fill irrigation containers.

How to water cucumbers in the greenhouse and in the open field

Since excess moisture in the soil after heavy watering leads to rotting of the root system of seedlings and the formation of voids in ripening fruits, there is a certain rate of watering the crop, which differs depending on the method of growing cucumbers:

when grown in open ground, the irrigation rate is 4.5-5 liters of water per 1 m2² before the start of the growing season and 11 liters per 1 m2^{2when cucumbers ripen;}
watering cucumbers in a polycarbonate greenhouse requires less water consumption - 3.5-4 liters per 1 m2^{2 before flowering and 7.5-9 liters during fruit growth .}

Fertigation, that is, dilution of nutrient fertilizers in irrigation water and their supply directly to cucumbers, is of great importance for the he althy development and increase in plant productivity. For these purposes, only highly soluble fertilizing compositions are used, otherwise there will be a threat of blockage of poorly passable sections of the construction system Experienced gardeners advise using the following ready-made mixtures when irrigating cucumbers:

"Nutriflex";
"Teraflex";
"Speedfoul";
Novofert.

In order to save expensive formulations, it is possible to water cucumbers with drip irrigation by combining ready-made products with sulfate or magnesium nitrate, ammonium nitrate, available and familiar to every summer resident; if necessary, phosphate fertilizer compounds are introduced into irrigation.

It is not necessary to add a nutrient solution to the water for irrigation in greenhouse conditions immediately, but 10 minutes after the start of irrigation, when the soil under the cucumbers is already sufficiently moistened. When the solution runs out, the irrigation system tanks are refilled with clean water so that all drainage elements are properly flushed. How much time it takes to clear the irrigation structure depends on the branching and the total length of the system, but on average it is 15-20 minutes.

Irrigation systems

How to make drip irrigation for cucumbers yourself? For the convenience of organizing irrigation using the drip method, planting seedlings is carried out in even rows, with the installation of a trellis for tall varieties of cucumbers or without it - for bush varieties of cropsWith a trellis garter of seedlings, the top layer of soil is covered with mulch. This helps retain moisture and reduces water consumption.

Gravity-fed water supply

To ensure a continuous supply of water to the cucumbers and at the same time not to damage the delicate seedling stems with the installed irrigation system, the hoses must be laid on the ground in advance, even before the seedlings are transferred to a permanent place. Then, when the hose irrigation system is already distributed on the bed and a supply is stretched from it, through which water will be supplied, a reservoir can be installed.

The capacity for the drainage of the irrigation system is an ordinary barrel with a tap embedded at a distance of 7-12 cm from the bottom. To be able to regulate the pressure and water supply during drip irrigation, the barrel is hoisted onto a movable platform with several levels of height.

The last step in organizing watering is to attach the hose to the faucet with a clamp and fill the barrel with water. It should be noted that one plant should have only one hole made in the hose, which means that perforation is carried out taking into account the density of planting cucumbers. On average, this is 35-40 cm between punctures.

How to properly organize bottle watering

Bottle automatic watering is considered the most economical option that does not require prior preparation and certain patterns of planting cucumber seedlings. Gardeners use three methods of drip irrigation of cucumbers using plastic kegs:

For the first option for watering cucumbers, you will need a 1.5-liter bottle and a thin cocktail tube, one of the ends of which is tightly closed. At 0.5 cm from the plug, you need to make a hole with a diameter of a match. The bottom of the bottle is cut off evenly, and a puncture is made 1-2 cm from the level of the shoulders, equal to the width of the tube.The free end of the tube is inserted 2-3 cm into the puncture hole and fixed in this position. The bottle is turned over, water is poured into it and placed near a bush of cucumber seedlings.
Irrigation of cucumbers in the open field should fully compensate for the loss of moisture from evaporation, therefore, it provides for an abundant supply of water. In a 2-liter bottle, starting from a height of 4 cm, 5-6 small holes are made, distributing them to the shoulders of the keg at an equal distance from each other. The bottle is dug in about a third near the seedling bush. Warm water is poured through the neck.
The third method of watering cucumbers in a greenhouse or in the open field is used in the presence of trellises. Bottles already filled with water are tied up to them with their necks down. Irrigation water enters through the holes made in the lids of the kegs. In order not to damage the leaves of the seedlings and the cucumbers themselves, the bottles are tied up at a distance of 5-7 cm above the ground, in the immediate vicinity of the plant stem.

Summer residents do not always have the opportunity to visit the greenhouse with the necessary frequency required for the timely filling of containers with water. In this case, it is advisable to use 5-liter bottles, installed in accordance with the general principles of the methods.

Medical drip system

The drip system can be a branched structure using several types of materials or a simple one with an individual tank with a supply for each seedling bush.

The most time-consuming design involves the purchase of the following components for the system:

pvc plumbing pipes:
medical drips.

The distribution pipeline is used directly as a source of water supply.

Algorithm for forming a system for watering cucumbers with your own hands:

in PVC pipes cut into equal lengths, punctures are made corresponding to the distance between future plantings;
using plastic elbows and clamps from pieces of pipes, an irrigation distribution system is assembled, which is assembled directly in the greenhouse or in an open garden;
The medical dropper is cut into 10-15 cm lengths, and each piece is inserted tightly into the hole of the pipe so that the free end of the dropper is near the future seedling hole.

If the system is used seasonally, the installation must be flushed and drained between water starts. This method of supplying water to cucumbers is capital and is associated with monetary costs for pipes. You can reduce the cost of irrigation using the same droppers and ordinary plastic bottles.This option is also good because when watering it is possible to simultaneously apply top dressing.

Algorithm for collecting a mobile irrigation system:

Plastic 1.5 liter bottles have the bottom cut off and the lid pierced;
each bottle is hung upside down from a trellis directly above the plant;
a piece is cut off from the dropper, equal in length to the distance from the bottle cap to the ground plus 2 cm;
The control structure with the wheel is moved closer to the bottle neck.

With the annual transfer of cucumber beds from place to place, such compact drip irrigation for cucumbers has a clear advantage over capital. And all the maintenance of the system consists in adding water to the bottle and periodically cleaning the dropper outlets from earthen plugs. In addition to periodic cleanings, it is required once a year after harvesting cucumbers to disassemble the entire system and rinse the dropper in several stages.Nitric or phosphoric acid is used to flush out organic fertilizer residues.