Time to Put Down Plastic

[Beltman60]

my grandfather used to tell me more corn grew in crooked rows than straight rows
that's because he always had more cooked ones than straight ones :laughing:

 

[hunterridgefarm]

A little update. I took a few days off to complete the irrigation and knock a few things off the honey-do-BOOK, chapter two, paragraph 3.1.


First thing was to complete the deer fence. The electric has worked for the last 3 years but had some babies get in last year and the mothers had to follow. So I fenced the whole 3 ac with field fence and put temporary extensions on the wood post and T-post to get the height of 8+ feet. I have tied survey tape to the twin and have had no issue with deer jumping. I will make it a little more attractive later.

 

[hunterridgefarm]

The sub-main line was taken to the field and rolled out

 

[hunterridgefarm]

Checked the river for water and measure the length of hose for pump. I set the pump against the rock. Also the elevation from river to field is pictured.

Also T off at the top with main line.

 

[hunterridgefarm]

Running the main line to the field . Connecting to pressure regulator that will control pressure to 12 psi.

Ran sub-main for one section and flat hose over to the other section to connect to sub-main.

 

[hunterridgefarm]

Connecting drip tape to sub-main line. I was not sure how this would go since I had never done it but it was a breeze, no problems. Insert the punch through the connector and it just popped right into the sub line. Attached the drip line.

 

[hunterridgefarm]

Started the pump and checked for leaks. I had to tighten a few clamps but over all the pressure held at 8-10 psi on the gauge. Of course the gauge is in the wrong place. I used it to check the drip line pressure and this gauge should be at the end of the sub main line, but it worked ok just to check pressure. I have a gauge for the drip tape end but did not have it with me.

 

[hunterridgefarm]

After one hour of drip it seems to be doing great. These pictures show the end of the drip compared to the ground with no drip.

 

[hunterridgefarm]

After 1-1/2 and two hours of drip time. Your can see on one picture the drip tape under ground before the plastic starts. The tape is 4-6" under ground and starting to seep through the top.

This was before anything was planted. I have had the plastic in place for about two weeks and wanted to make sure the soil had enough moisture before planting.

 

[hunterridgefarm]

Set out just a few tomato plants a couple days later and the soil was still holding moisture. Will set more this week but they are calling for a couple of 40-45 degree nights and don't want to push it. I planted the tomatoes about 8" deep.

I also planted a few seed through the plastic and checked them 3 days after and they are already sprouting. Hopefully they will be poking up through the plastic in a few days and I'll get some more pictures.

I ran the drip for about one hour last night and that seems to be enough for now. I am sure once it get warmer I will need to run a little longer. It will just take some monitoring of soil to determine the frequency and length of time to run the pump. Currently it looks like every 3 days will work. In about a month it should go to every 2 days.