f /' HortlOountry * W,\ , TimElkner 'tyf Lancaster County 1 w Horticulture Agent i ANOTHER DRY SUMMER Is 2001 going to be another dry growing season? I’ve al ready talked with growers that are concerned about whether they will be able to get the plow into the soil to turn under their rye cover crops. As I write this column, we're also several inches below our normal rainfall for the year and the high tem peratures in late April made the situation worse. So my advice to all growers of fruit and vegetables is to start pre paring for another season of heavy use of your irrigation system! By now you should have performed normal mainte nance on your irrigation system. You should not wait until your newly set crop of watermelons needs to be wa tered to discover that your pump is broken and the nec essary part will take two days to arrive. I hope you have not needed to lose a crop to learn this valuable lesson. If there were any persistent problems with your irrigation system last season, hopefully you have solved those already Fast, clean and dependable mowing. Flail Mowei • Cutting widths • Cutting heights • Reverse rotor rotation • Fine cut knives on 20 & 30 Series • Hammers on 40 Series Deerfield Ag & Turf Center Inc RR 2 Box 212 Walsontown, PA 17777 570-538-3557 Detlan Equipment, Inc. 141 East Mam St Silverdale, PA 18962 215-257-5177 Thomas L. Dunlap Rt. 220, Mam St Exit Jersey Shore, PA 17740 570-398-1391 Eckroth Bros Farm Equip. Rd 2, Box 24A New Rmgold, PA 17960 570-943-2131 Eckroth Equipment Co. 4910 Kernsville Rd Orefield, PA 18069 610-366-2095 as well. Frequent clogging of emitters or lines with a trickle system could indicate a water or filtration problem that will again re-occur this year if not corrected. Solving the prob lem now should help you achieve maximum results from your irrigation system. I suggest you consult an irriga tion professional to help with any of these persistent prob lems. Another reason to consult an irrigation professional is if you plan to make any major changes to your system or if you plan to irrigate addi tional acreage this season. If your system is not properly designed to provide the quan tity of water needed for your crops, you could suffer from reduced yields and most likely reduced returns for that crop. Can you afford to loose money like this? An irriga tion specialist can help deter mine if your system can support the additional acre age or what modifications are necessary to increase the wa tering capacity to suit your needs. Those new to using irriga- Pennsylvania Hines Equipment RT 220, Belwood, PA 814-742-8171 Hoober, Inc. Mam Street Intercourse, PA 17534 717-768-8231 Hoober, Inc. East Mam Street McAlisterville, PA 17049 717-463-2191 Keller Brothers R 7 Box 405 Lebanon, PA 17042 717-949-6501 1950 Fruitville Pike Lancaster, PA 17601 717-569-2500 Lehigh Ag Equipment, Inc 6670 Ruppsville Rd , Allentown, PA 18106 610-398-2553 800-779-3616 tion should collect as much information as possible from other growers, industry reps, and by reading available lit erature. This is especially true for those new to using trickle or drip irrigation. There are many potential problems with this type of ir rigation system. However, a trickle system has enough ad vantages to you, the grower, in order for you to learn how to operate this type of system. When Should I Irrigate This is a common question among growers. I have also asked several successful growers how they determine when they need to water and received about as many dif ferent answers as growers that I asked! You need to remember that all fruits and vegetables are more than 90 percent water at harvest and quality can suffer quickly when water stress occurs. When it comes to determining the need to water a crop, there is no true substitute for experience. But what does a new grower do successfully grow a crop while gaining the necessary experience? I have several suggestions to offer. First, start by collect ing information. Talk with other successful growers of the crop(s) you intend to grow and learn from their ex periences. There is no need to make the same mistakes they have! Also consult an irriga- landpnde com M.S Yearsley & Sons West Chester, PA 610-696-2990 Pikeville Equipment Inc RD 2, Oysterdale Road Oley, PA 19547 610-927-6277 Stoltzfus Farm Service Cochranville, PA 610-593-2407 Stouffer Bros Inc. 1066 Lincoln Way West Chambersburg, PA 17201 717-263-8424 Rodio Tractor Sales North White Horse Pike Hammonton, N J 08037 609-561-0141 Warren County Service Center 228 Route 94, Blairtown, N J 908-362-6916 Lancaster Farming, Saturday, Ma; tion specialist, as they will often have information you can use. Finally read any available information of the subject, including production guides, irrigation guides, trade journals, newspaper ar ticles, and even seed catalogs. Most of these sources will provide tips and suggestions on irrigation. Also be sure to know the critical times in the production cycle of your crop for water use. For most vege table crops this starts at set and continues through har vest while with fruit crops it can vary with the time of the season. Both new and experienced growers should consider using some method of moni toring soil moisture. One way to do this is to use tensiome ters. I have talked with growers that have used ten siometers and I am using them myself in an irrigation study and we all agree that these devices also require some experience to use prop erly. However, I believe that it is worth the time to learn how to use some type of mon itoring device, because what you think the current soil water status is and what the actual soil water status is can be very different. Seasoned growers can often do this based on their experiences with the crop and the weather conditions. How ever, a tensiometer could also help them confirm their in r QUEEN-GIL Drip Irrigation Tape Means... » 10 Drippers for less than the cost of 5! 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