Tips For Optimal Irrigation In High Tunnels
March 30, 2011 Bill Lamont, professor of vegetable crops at Penn State University at Penn State University, offers some pointers on how to keep just the right amount of moisture in high tunnels using drip irrigation.
1. Make sure you have a timely start irrigating, and don’t let the tunnel dry out, explains Bill Lamont, professor of horticultural ecology at Penn State University. For example, he says any tunnel that is covered is drying out. “It can be 75 degrees in a high tunnel in January,” he adds.
2. Monitor your moisture level. Keep the soil moist: not wet and not dry — just moist.
3. Keep an eye on your drip tape while irrigating to make sure it doesn’t have a contaminate in it or is plugged up.
4. Know the pH of your water. “Basically, do everything you would do in a field,” says Lamont. “Make sure you have a screen filter and a pressure regulator.”
To view a webinar on maximizing the benefits of high tunnel production GrowingProduce.com,.