Newbie irrigation question

[Paul Bromley]

Hi all,

New here so please be gentle lol .....
I have just bought my first greenhouse and am in the process of building base etc. As I need to spend limited time away from time to time I want to install an irrigation system. The house is an Alton 8 x 10 and will be mainly used for veg growing I do not have any outdoor space for gardening all being pebbles and flags. Any advice on how to automate the watering would be appreciated, I envisage a number of large growbags at floor level for tomatoes etc plus trays and pots on the other side staging, particularly for the growbags I would like to be able to introduce feed into the water should that be necessary so in respect of those was thinking of a header tank ?

Mains water will be installed too. Any advice will help. good wishes.

[zazen999]

Try a solar system. Mine kept a fifty foot poly watered all summer this year. Cost £90 but you can get them without the soaker hose for about £60. Wonderful they are.

[redser]

For pots on the staging think about using cappiliary matting. You need only fill the resevoir every so often, depending on how big it is and how many plants are being watered. It's an excellent foolproof way of watering plants as they only take up what they need as they grow.
If you have mains water consider adding a timer to the tap. No need for a pump as you should have all the pressure you need from the mains. Beyond the timer you have a few options ... soaker hoses (better for soil beds though), drippers etc.
If you do fancy using soaker hoses, Lidl do them in Spring time. Prices here are 15 mtrs for 10 Euro.

[redser]

btw - I've played around a bit with adding fertiliser to water in a tank for automatic watering. I found that it would encourage algae if the water was there long enough. Something for you to think about.

How long would be the longest you think you would be away?

[Paul Bromley]

btw - I've played around a bit with adding fertiliser to water in a tank for automatic watering. I found that it would encourage algae if the water was there long enough. Something for you to think about.

How long would be the longest you think you would be away?

Probably a week at the most, I do have friends who could call in but after a lifetime of kids, dogs, koi etc etc we are trying to get to a stage where we can pop away for a few days without worrying about anything !

[redser]

A week isn't a long time if you're system is up and running. And things can get away with not being fed for a week. It's not ideal, but not a big deal. And you would really only be worried during the height of the growing season.
The other thing you need to be concerned about is ventilation so things dont cook on a sunny day. So an automatic vent opener is what you need for your roof vents, and maybe louvre vents if you have them.

[Paul Bromley]

A week isn't a long time if you're system is up and running. And things can get away with not being fed for a week. It's not ideal, but not a big deal. And you would really only be worried during the height of the growing season.
The other thing you need to be concerned about is ventilation so things dont cook on a sunny day. So an automatic vent opener is what you need for your roof vents, and maybe louvre vents if you have them.

Yes anticipated the vent issue I have openers on the three roof vents and two louvres so wanted the watering to be at least able to get by ! Thanks for help.