In a greenhouse, the soil dries out quickly, which can quickly become a problem, especially for plants that need a lot of water, such as tomatoes or cucumbers. With automatic watering, you ensure that the plants are evenly supplied with moisture and can thus develop healthy and large fruits.
Automatic irrigation in the greenhouse is practical and easy to install
materials
To install an automatic watering system in the greenhouse you will need:
- one or more garden hoses of appropriate length as connecting hoses
- a roll of pearl hose as an irrigation hose
- Fasteners: elbows, tees, plugs
- wire
- possibly a small submersible pump
Before doing so, carefully measure how many meters of hose of each type you actually need and how many connectors you need to use. The normal water hoses serve as the main lines, the pearl hoses as branch lines. Use either an external tap or a rain barrel as a water source. For the latter, you need a small submersible pump to pump the water into the greenhouse. However, this does not apply if the barrel is at least 1500 liters - and can therefore build up enough water pressure - and is at least 50 to 100 centimeters higher on a pedestal.
Installing an irrigation system - instructions
Finally, set up the irrigation system (€32.95) as follows:
- First lay the main lines.
- These run along the beds in the greenhouse and can be anchored to the ground with wire.
- Cut these lines at the necessary points for the branches.
- You can use a knife for this.
- Insert the T-pieces there.
- You can seal any holes or leaks with silicone.
- Connect the bead hose pieces to the T-pieces.
- Anchor the hoses to the ground with wire.
- Seal the ends of the hoses with a stopper.
- Only the end to be attached to the reservoir or water tap remains free.
- The submersible pump is hung directly in the rain barrel.
Finally, connect the water source to the garden hose and see if the system actually works. If necessary, you can still readjust.
tips
Care should be taken when handling electrically powered submersible pumps as the combination of electricity and water is dangerous. If you do not have a power connection in the garden, you can also use battery or solar-powered pumps, which, however, work less reliably.