Arid Land Orchard Irrigation Success 2021
We document a recent successful irrigation project Australia
Wellwater Solutions carried out orchard irrigation projects in the Flinders Ranges in 2021, the first major road tests of the magnetic water conditioning technology in Australia.
The standard ground units were installed in the ground and fitted to 25mm blue line irrigation pipe and standard Philmac fittings were used to install the units adjacent the town water meters.
This article provides a guide to the correct installation of the ground units and the dramatic results achieved within months of orchard tree planting.
The first project was the irrigation of approximately 300 orchard and native Australian trees in the challenging arid land environment of the Northern Flinders Ranges.
A moderate watering via timers on five irrigation circuits for two hours every two days. Extreme heat and northerly winds were experienced in November and December 2021, however proper tree guards and proper mulching with pea straw around the plants ensured no summer heat damage to the plants.
As well, on the ground between the plants, cardboard from recycled boxes was laid flat between the plants and then covered with a few inches of creek gravel.
This technique proved very effective to mitigate the risks of planting orchard trees in September when winter or early spring would be considered more ideal.
Importantly the trees were irrigated with scapeline loops with 5 drips per loop to ensure even watering and the scapeline was not buried to ensure roots and soil does not interfere with irrigation output over time, all valuable lessons learned by orchard and garden growers in the Northern Flinders Ranges.
The degree of success witnessed was not expected. Small orchard trees planted in mid September had extensive growth in November 2021 and in most circumstances doubled in size, and the fig trees planted were fruiting!
The following series of images demonstrates how a well planned and executed irrigation project can quickly result in a productive and high fruit yield orchard.
1. Deep irrigation trenches for the main lines ensure that poly irrigation is well protected from extremes of heat and cold, and will not be impacted by foot traffic or vehicles.
As you lay the irrigation pipe down in the trenches, have plenty of stones handy to place on the line every six feet or so. This will prevent the line rising up in the soil which can easily occur and cause problems.
Don’t bury the line until the circuit is pressure tested with the water on for long enough to allow a complete visual inspection. Deal with any missing clamps or leaks now as its not so easy after the trenches are full.
2.Circular shaped rather than linear irrigation circuits helps to ensure equalised water pressure. In this case, no more than 50 plants per circuit. How is your town water or pump pressure? Below 250KPA will cause issues with drip irrigation as will pressures too high above 500KPA. Test your water pressure and use an on demand pump to deal with low pressure. Instal an in line pressure regulator for properties with excessive pressure.
Keep the irrigation map in a safe place. In a few months it will be near impossible to know where buried pipe is, and as you plant more trees or do other work, this record will be valuable.
At some point in the circuit, use a t junction ( 19mm) and instal a raised poly tap a foot above the ground. Every few months its a good idea to open this tap and allow the circuit to be flushed of any dirt/particles in the line, which will block the irrigation loops over time.
3. Sample of the13mm scape line rings with five drip points placed above the mulch connected to the 19mm circuit via a tee barb was the chosen and successful method used.
You will also notice corrugated/perforated irrigation tube has been used on each tree. Approximately 3 metres of tube is used per tree enabling a loop in the bottom of the 1.6 metre deep hole and 200mm protruding above the ground. A long neck beer bottle can be used to cover the open end to ensure dirt or marsupials don’t enter the tube for shelter.
4. Tree guards protect the trees from heat and frost while they are delicate. Two dropper/ star pickets will hold them firm in the wind.
5. The Wellwater ground unit installed adjacent to the town water meter. Approximately 200m of gravel placed under the unit and on top of the unit, this prevents water saturation of the unit which can impact magnetic resonance. In this case a metre square paver was placed over the unit after 200mm plus of gravel was placed over the unit.
With the water conditioner installed and the irrigation and mulching complete, timers for 5 circuits were set to two hours every two days, the hard yakka was complete and the growth of the orchard proceeded rapidly as anticipated.
6. After just two months the orchard was off to a strong start, with the majority of trees doubling in size and fig trees fruiting, a very rare occurrence in this timeframe.
At this time it’s wise to look closely at each tree and do formative pruning. If you are not familiar with how to prune young fruit trees, find someone who can, or ask for advice from your local nursery. Correct pruning at this point will determine the final shape and growth of the fruit trees.
7. After two months rigorous growth of the citrus trees.
8. In April 2022 after six months, the orchard has exploded in growth with many of the trees well over eight feet tall and the orchard appearing to be any orchard established for some years.
Finally, before you start an irrigation project, follow the irrigation map and do a comprehensive estimate of materials needed.
A sample list for this medium size project ( 300 plus trees) will be added to this post.
- 300 meters of 25mm poly for establishing five double taps over property
- 500 meters of 19mm poly, for the five main circuits
- 200 meters of 13mm poly to connect from main circuit to trees
- 400 meters of scape line to construct 300 plus irrigation rings
- 300 x 13mm tee joiners to join scape line rings to 13mm line
- 300 x 19mm tee barbs to 13mm
- 500 x 13mm clamps
- 800 x 19mm clamps
- 5 x 1 metre risers for each tap
- 5 x riser tee section for taps
- 10 x 3/4 inch ball valve taps and adaptors for tees
- 10 x Philmac 25mm tees for taps and other junctions
- 5 x flush valves for each circuit
- 5 x garden timers, one for each circuit
- 1 x Wellwater ground unit
Find an irrigation supply shop that will most likely have all of your requirements.
In South Australia, we sourced from Reece plumbing Lonsdale and McClaren Vale Irrigation.
