Greenhouse irrigation systems are the way to grow lush, delicious veggies.

Using the proper greenhouse irrigation will greatly improve the growth of your vegetables and flowers and create healthier plants. Here are some options to consider:

• Automated watering system: An automated watering system can help save you time and money keeping your greenhouse plants watered. With the system set to water automatically for a specified period of time, you no longer need to worry about remembering to water. The system does the watering for you so you can spend your time doing other things.



• Drip or micro-sprinkler watering system: A drip or micro-sprinkler system is the most eco-friendly watering system for your greenhouse. These low pressure, low volume systems apply water efficiently and effectively thus conserving water and energy.



• Combination of systems: Depending on the types of plants you are growing and the size of your greenhouse, a combination of systems may be your best option to effectively water your greenhouse.

Check with an irrigation expert before making your final decision about which irrigation system to use. They can help you create an effective irrigation system to ensure a healthier garden this season.

Contact the irrigation specialists at W.P. Law, Inc. for more information about which irrigation solution is best for you.

Farm irrigation systems play an important role in bringing the farmer’s crops to your table.

Farmers can’t always rely on the rain to bring water to their crops. It is too unpredictable for them to rely on. Therefore they need to install irrigation systems to ensure healthy and plentiful crops. There are many different types of irrigation that farmers use.

Here are the top three questions people ask about farm irrigation systems.

1. What is the difference between drip irrigation and micro sprinkler irrigation? Both systems are considered low volume and low pressure systems. Drip irrigation supplies water to the crop at or near the root zone through the use of emitters. Water “drips” from these emitters at a very low rate, typically 1, or 2 gallons per hour. Micro sprinkler irrigation also applies water near the root zone by using small stake mounted sprinklers or jets. These micro-sprinklers apply water with a small spray or fan shaped pattern, usually at a rate of 10-15 gallons per hour. The spray pattern covers a larger area than drip emitters and is usually used to irrigate fruit trees such as peaches and citrus. Because these micro sprinklers are located beneath the tree canopy and are located only a few inches above the ground they offer many of the same benefits as drip irrigation (less evaporation, less runoff, higher efficiency, etc.).
2. Why do farmers turn sprinklers on during frost warnings? Many early spring fruit crops such as strawberries require some type of frost protection system. Many farmers utilize an overhead sprinkler frost protection system. Sprinkler frost protection systems work because of the thermodynamic properties of water. When water changes from a liquid to a frozen state it loses heat (latent heat of fusion). The heat that the water loses keeps the plant tissue just above freezing. Farmers must continually run the sprinkler system during freezing temperatures because water must be constantly changing from a liquid to a frozen state. For this reason farmers will turn on the frost protection system before the air temperature drops below freezing and will run their system continually until the air temperature is well above freezing.
3. How do you determine what type of irrigation to use? The type of irrigation system used usually depends on the crops you are growing. Vegetable or other truck crops usually use drip irrigation. Peaches and other tree-fruit crops are also well suited for drip irrigation and/or micro sprinklers but many growers also use overhead sprinklers such as “big guns” and traveling guns. Row crops typically use center pivot systems or traveling guns.

To find the answer to all your farm irrigation systems questions contact WP Law today.

Agriculture irrigation systems are a necessity to deliver healthy and abundant crops.

Agriculture irrigation systems play a major role in farming and in ensuring healthy and bountiful crops. There are many questions about irrigation and why it is important in the farming industry. Here are 3 frequently asked questions.

• 1) What are the different types of irrigation?
• Sprinkler Irrigation: Sprinkler irrigation is where the water is delivered through on overhead sprinkler system. There are different types of sprinkler irrigation that the farming industry uses.
• Drip Irrigation: Drip irrigation is where the water is delivered by low volume, low pressure emitters or micro sprinklers directly to the root zone of the crop. Drip irrigation is primarily used on high-value crops such as fruits and vegetables.
• Subsurface Drip Irrigation: Subsurface drip irrigation is essentially the same as drip irrigation except the emitter lines are buried underground. Subsurface drip irrigation is primarily used on high-value row crops such as corn and cotton.
• 2) Where does the water come from? There are many sources for water used in farming irrigation. The most common are ponds, wells, lakes, rivers, collected rainwater and treated wastewater.
• 3) What are the benefits of an irrigation system? Crops cannot grow without water. Rainfall is too unpredictable and sometimes scarce.

An irrigation system will ensure that the crops get the required amount of water needed to grow healthy and abundantly. If you’re looking to install new agriculture irrigation systems on your farm, ask WP Law’s irrigation experts for a system that meets your land’s particular needs.

Drip irrigation on home vegetable gardens has gained in popularity over the years because of the many benefits it provides.  By supplying water directly to the root zone of your crop, drip irrigation helps reduce disease pressure often associated with over-head watering by keeping the leaves of the crop dry.  Drip irrigation in vegetable gardens also helps limit the amount of weeds by keeping area between rows dry as well.

The irrigation professionals at W.P. Law Inc. have developed a garden drip irrigation kit that helps take the guess work out of supplying water to your garden.  Our garden drip irrigation kits can be customized based on the size and number of rows in you garden.   These kits use a 5/8" drip tape with built in drip emitters every 12 inches that drip water slowly to the root zone of your garden.  The drip tape is available in a 1,000 foot roll and requires only a 1/2 gallon of water per minute for every 100 feet of drip tape or row.  Many growers that have a limited amount of water available are able to utilize our garden drip tape kits to irrigate their garden. 

The drip tape attaches to  5/8" polyethylene solid drip tubing that is connected to a water supply such as a faucet.  At the faucet, simply screw on the drip filter and pressure reducer and connect the solid drip tubing that will supply the drip tape.  Assembly is simple and does not require any advanced plumbing skills to install.

Many growers prefer to add a hose faucet timer in order to automate their garden drip irrigation system.  These timers can be programmed to turn the drip irrigation on automatically each day with multiple start times.  Another common device used to help take the work out of your home garden is the addition of a fertilizer injector.  These fertilizer injectors can be used to inject soluble fertilizer into the drip tape system. 

To learn more about our garden drip irrigation kit, click below to see an illustration of the necessary components.

W.P. Law Inc. Garden Drip Irrigation Diagram

Designing Irrigation Systems…Planning Ahead

When the decision is made to add an irrigation system to your landscape or farm, there is no doubt that it pays to have an irrigation design done.  Having a complete irrigation design will maximize the effectiveness of the irrigation system, providing cost savings over the “buy-it-and-try-it” method, which usually leads to malfunctions and re-workings. While most would-be irrigation system owners would admit the need for an irrigation design, it is surprising how few take the time to plan-ahead.  When the design process is delayed until the last minute, the procrastination could lead to inflated costs when compared to the same irrigation system planned in advance.

By planning ahead, you are able to take advantage of several money saving opportunities.  We can make sure that all necessary parts for the irrigation system are in stock for the complete job, often eliminating freight charges that show up when trying to obtain parts at the last-minute.  Additionally, we can pair jobs together, allowing us to obtain better pricing for you on the larger quantities.  You can see additional cost-savings if an estimate is obtained ahead of time, as we can avoid some price increases by having a prior quote honored.  

In addition to the cost-savings, we will all obtain a greater peace of mind by having more time to work out the details of a particular job.  Just like fingerprints, no two systems are identical.  As more information is taken into consideration, we can fine-tune and personalize any given irrigation design to meet your specific needs.