Do-it-yourself drip irrigation from plastic bottles for cucumbers with photos and videos

Cucumbers are a moisture-loving crop that needs to be periodically watered and fed during outdoor cultivation. If you water too infrequently, it can affect the growth of bushes and yields. The fruits themselves may also suffer, which will grow tasteless and bitter.

Not all vegetable growers have the opportunity to constantly be in the country to constantly water the cucumbers. In this case, drip irrigation of cucumbers is created in a greenhouse or vegetable garden, which will ensure a constant supply of moisture to the plants. For such purposes, do-it-yourself watering from plastic bottles is created.

Pros and cons

The watering device using plastic bottles is quite simple. To ensure the supply of moisture to the cucumbers, it is necessary to dig a bottle with small holes for water seepage near each bush. Such bottle watering has a number of advantages, which include:

Small cost. This system is practically free, since all you need to create it is plastic containers, which you can find on the street yourself or purchase at a small price.
Easy to create. To equip irrigation with plastic bottles, a person does not need any special skills, so anyone can do this job.
Simplified care for cucumbers growing in the garden or in greenhouse conditions. For watering in a greenhouse through plastic bottles, a person does not have to spend much time in his summer cottage.Using this scheme, a person will be able to go about their business and not worry about plants.
Protection of cucumbers from burns. Automatic watering bushes in a drip way protects the leaves on the bushes from burns, as water will flow immediately under the root.
Autonomy. Most popular systems need a plumbing system. In this case, only bottles filled with water will be needed.
Liquid temperature. The water with which cucumbers are watered has the same temperature as the air in the greenhouse. This has a positive effect on plant growth.
Easy disassembly and repair. There are times when some element in the system breaks down and has to be completely replaced. To do this, it will be enough to dig up a broken bottle and install a new one in its place.

Despite all its advantages, this irrigation system has some disadvantages:

Difficulty organizing irrigation in large areas. Therefore, if it is necessary to ensure the supply of moisture to large areas, it is recommended to use any other irrigation methods.
Common problems. Often, the holes in the bottles begin to clog with earth, and because of this, the flow of moisture into the soil slows down.
Defective watering. Such a system is quite primitive and because of this, it cannot completely replace open field irrigation. The gardener will sometimes have to independently irrigate the bushes with a watering can. To ensure proper watering, it is recommended to use special tapes connected to the water supply.

Materials used

Before you do drip irrigation after top dressing, you need to decide what materials and tools will be needed to equip the system:

roulette;
shovel for digging containers into the ground;
awl or nails to create holes;
bottles;
a lighter that will heat up a needle or nail.

Special attention should be paid to the choice of bottles, as they are the main material of the irrigation system. First you need to decide on the volume of containers. In this case, the choice directly depends on the area in which the cucumbers will be grown. If the temperature is very high throughout the day, then large containers will be needed for irrigation that could hold a sufficient amount of water. You need to remember that in greenhouses the temperature is higher than outside and therefore the plants will need more water.

It is not recommended to use a small container, because of this it will be necessary to add liquid to it too often. Therefore, it is worth abandoning half-liter bottles. The best option would be to use two-liter containers, which will be enough for a week and a half.

However, if the summer is too hot, you will have to use five-liter eggplants so that the bushes have enough moisture. The possibility of using such a large container should be considered in advance, as it takes up a lot of space.

You should also pay attention to choosing the right fabric. It is needed to protect the openings of the bottles from contamination. To do this, the fabric will have to be wrapped around the outside of the bottle so that the earth cannot get inside. It is recommended to choose a fabric that is not very thick so that water can pass through it freely.

To pierce the lids, it is recommended to use needles to make holes with a diameter of about one millimeter. If they are too large, the water will be used up quickly.

Arrangement methods

There are four main methods by which you can create a bottle irrigation system. Therefore, before starting work, you should familiarize yourself with each of them.

Digging into the ground

The most common way to arrange irrigation in open ground is to bury containers in the ground upside down. To do this, a small hole is made near each bush with a depth of at least 10 cm, into which the container will be placed. Then, with the help of a tape measure at the bottle, 3-5 cm is canceled from the beginning of the bottom and a mark is made. After that, holes in several rows are created in the marked area with the help of a heated needle. About 10 holes need to be made.

The prepared bottle is carefully wrapped with a cloth and placed upside down in the ground. Then it is buried and filled with water. Often, garbage from the ground gets into the water from above. To solve this problem, cover the neck with a nylon or cloth.

Instilling upside down

This method differs from the previous one in that the container will be placed upside down in the ground.Therefore, holes will have to be made in the lid or in the neck. To organize watering in this way, holes for containers are made near each bush. At the same time, they need to be done a little less than last time. Their depth should be equal to the size of the neck of the container.

Having finished with the creation of holes, you can start preparing the containers. On the lid or in the neck, using a well-heated nail, you need to make 5-10 holes. If the soil is not very dense, then their number can be reduced.

After that, five centimeters are measured from the bottom of the container and the bottom of the container is cut off with scissors or a knife. Some gardeners do not cut it completely and leave it to protect it from debris and rapid evaporation of moisture. Then the neck is wrapped with a cloth and it is placed in the ground.

Hanging up

Some do not want to expose the root system of cucumbers and therefore they refuse to dig in containers near the bushes.It is in such situations that it is recommended to use this method. To organize watering in this way, you must first make holes in the bottom of the container. Several holes are also made to pass the wire through which the container will be attached.

After that, a structure is mounted above the bush to secure the container. Its height should not be too high. It is necessary that the distance from the bottle to the ground is about 40 cm.

Using attachments

This method is the most expensive, since you will have to purchase special nozzles for bottles. Using them, you do not have to waste your time digging containers into the ground. It will be enough just to fix the nozzle on the neck and deepen it into the ground.

Conclusion

Making drip irrigation from plastic bottles with your own hands for cucumbers is not a very difficult job that almost everyone can handle.To do this, it is recommended that you read the recommendations for creating an irrigation system and watch a video that describes the correct system and the process of creating it.