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Image:FreshlyPlanted.jpg| April, shortly after planting | Image:FreshlyPlanted.jpg| April, shortly after planting | ||
Image:My_Tomatoes.jpg| My tomatoes on 5 Sept. | Image:My_Tomatoes.jpg| My tomatoes on 5 Sept. | ||
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[[Media:Drippers_with_cleaning.ogg]] | |||
Drippers running, one slow, so it gets cleaned: [[Media:Drippers_with_cleaning.ogg]] | |||
The drippers are adjusted to provide approx 100ml of water per hour when the tank is full and will gradually decrease during the day as the tank empties. I estimate that each plant receives 2l water over a 24 hour period. At this time the tank is refilled, bringing the drip speed back to 100ml per hour. With time, dirt and/or algae collect on the dripper, decreasing output and must be cleaned away. I used an old toothbrush and opened the dripper to full open to flush dirt out of the tubing and dripper. | The drippers are adjusted to provide approx 100ml of water per hour when the tank is full and will gradually decrease during the day as the tank empties. I estimate that each plant receives 2l water over a 24 hour period. At this time the tank is refilled, bringing the drip speed back to 100ml per hour. With time, dirt and/or algae collect on the dripper, decreasing output and must be cleaned away. I used an old toothbrush and opened the dripper to full open to flush dirt out of the tubing and dripper. |
Revision as of 19:29, 9 February 2016
Gravity fed drip irrigation, Semi-automated, using off the shelf parts
Intro
Welcome to my garden! What began as an experiment, has turned into a working garden which can run alone for several weeks at a time. The garden presented is small scale, approx. 30 plants, but can easily be expanded simply by adding more branches from the above ground tank and filling it more often. It's main purpose was to eliminate the carrying of water, eliminate guess work and wasted water, while ensuring that the harvest is never at risk due to lack of water. The main benefit was that the automation worked so well that a 2 week vacation could be taken in the middle of the season. Only 3 things limit its effectiveness; drought, pump outage and overly dirty water.
Description of set up
Rain water is collected underground. A pump attached to a timer runs at a specified time each day to fill an above ground tank. The fill level is measured using a standard toilet floater to shut off the pump when the tank is full.
The water in the tank is fed from the bottom of this tank, through a sand + gravel filter to remove fine contamination. The filtered water runs through 1/2" tubing and a branch of 3/16" tubing with an adjustable dripper at the end runs to each plant.
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Intitial coarse filter
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Above ground tank + filter
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The drippers I used
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April, shortly after planting
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My tomatoes on 5 Sept.
Drippers running, one slow, so it gets cleaned: Media:Drippers_with_cleaning.ogg
The drippers are adjusted to provide approx 100ml of water per hour when the tank is full and will gradually decrease during the day as the tank empties. I estimate that each plant receives 2l water over a 24 hour period. At this time the tank is refilled, bringing the drip speed back to 100ml per hour. With time, dirt and/or algae collect on the dripper, decreasing output and must be cleaned away. I used an old toothbrush and opened the dripper to full open to flush dirt out of the tubing and dripper.
Drip adjustment
To begin the season, a glass was placed under a dripper and left to run for 1 hour and adjusted until 100ml dripped per hour. All plants were set to the same drip rate and allowed to run. During the summer we experimented with more or less water per plant and although we found it difficult to always have the same drop rates, no plant showed too much or too little water symptoms, but no records were kept since it was mainly to ensure that the system would work as expected.
Lessons learned
Without the filter, the drippers required cleaning every 2-3 days, eliminating all time savings. Additionally, a dry spell left the underground tank empty, so that tap water had to be used. This may be the cause of the filter becoming dirty, allowing more dirt to the drippers. This is only suspected at this time, more testing is required to be certain.
Future Plans, full automation
- Computer control (PI)
- Drip adjustment with step motor
- Sensor to count drips
- Sensors for temp, humidity, water penetration
- Door/window openers, tank fill measurement and pump start/stop
External links
- [Garden.svg]