Polytunnel - Irrigation system installation & Irrigatia C60 Review
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- Опубликовано: 13 сен 2024
- The third video in our polytunnel journey, this time covering the installation of our irrigation system.
We have installed an Irrigatia C60, backed by a small water butt and three 1000 litre containers, all linked up together.
Irrigatia - irrigatia.com
IBC joining kit - ibc-cw.co.uk
Kit I use for filming
Camera and lens - amzn.to/3535hhl
Mic - amzn.to/355aUf1
Tripod - amzn.to/3aA1LMC
www.buymeacoff...
Thanks for the video. I'd be interested in learning more about the irrigatia system and the challenges you experienced. There aren't many reviews online. Did you consider building your own system? Would it be cheaper? Thanks
Hi Adam.
Overall, I've been pretty pleased.
The main area for concern with was that the Irrigatia manual is poor in a few areas. I either had to guess or get in touch with their help team. Mainly because I went with a system that only had microporous hose and the manual seems geared up for drippers or a combination. Once up and running, it's been pretty faultless so far. One of the hoses split but they sent me a replacement in the post without any quibble. I quite enjoyed building it all, it was quite satisfying getting all the pipe work figured out and then laid out neatly.
I didn't consider doing my own. Sorting out batteries, solar, motors and timing would have been beyond me. It might be cheaper on cost, but definitely not on time. I'm sure it would be possible to do something really clever with a Raspberry Pi if you really had the time. The only alternative we considered would have been to run electric to the polytunnel, which would have given us other options to consider.
Thanks,
Graeme
That's brilliant, thank you so much for showing all of this.
Can I ask, you say that the Irrigatia System draws the water from the "top of the water butt". Does that mean then, that the water is automatically drawn into the same water butt through the blue pipe (going into the bottom of the butt) from the IBC units?
I hope it's all going well still. Best.
Bad wording on my part I think! The pipe that draws water goes in via the top of the barrel. There was already a convenient hole in the lid to use, rather than drill a new hole in the butt itself, which would be potentially creating a new source for leaks. But the pipe goes all the way to the bottom of the butt, otherwise it wouldn't work very well as the water level drops. And yes, as the water level in the tunnel water butt drops, it automatically levels out (and therefore appears to magically refill!) from the water in the IBCs via the blue pipe.
@@GreenTubers Great, thanks so much for the clarification.
Hi can i ask is the unit noisy as the smaller version appears to be
It is a bit noisy, but nothing I can't live with. There is a different pump you can get as an optional extra. This is fully submerged in the bottom of the water butt, which helps to suppress the sound. I've considered this, but it's not so bad for me to want to shell out the extra for it.
@@GreenTubers thanks I’ll look into it
How's the Irrigatia system going?
Pretty well. We have a second leaky hose that has split and needs replacing, but other than that, it's working fine. We still water by hand a little, just to give the plants that need it a little extra. So for background watering and ensuring a reasonable amount gets to the plants, it works very well.
Not a bad idea having two valves on the IBC cause the valve on the ibc usually leaks after a while
Yes, it's already proved useful. If I have to do some work on one, I can isolate it so it doesn't leak or lead to the other two emptying either.
@@GreenTubers I have 7000 lots an no tunnel and two years ago I ran out of water. Black tanks are better as the alge won't grow so maybe consider covering them in black plastic. Alge blocks up the system
Hi, I’m using 2 IBC tanks for my polytunnel, I’m having problems with stagnant water in them, are yours ok? I’ve covered them in black plastic.
I've not had a problem so far and I've haven't wrapped them yet. Your message prompted me to take a look inside earlier. The water is a bit green but not too bad. It didn't seem to smell either although it can occasionally, just a bit. I can't claim to know why it's not bad though and I do plan to cover them at some point, just to be on the safe side.