f /'
HortlOountry
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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
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f 19,2001, Grower and Marketer-7
stincts and set “numbers” to
let their hired help judge
when water is needed.
A new grower can use a
tensiometer to warn him or
her that the soil is getting dry
and water is needed before
there will be any obvious
symptoms of stress in the
crop. Several studies have
shown that by the time you
see actual symptoms of water
stress in your crop (color
change or slight wilting),
yields have been reduced.
Tensiometers can be an ac
curate measurement of the
need to water a crop and may
help insure success with a
new crop. By keeping records
of their observations and ac
tions, combined with a record
of tensiometer readings, a
new grower can begin to de
velop the knowledge neces
sary to manage the irrigation
on their crops.
My experience has been
that a dry season is more ben
eficial to fruit and vegetable
growers than a wet season.
By carefully managing irriga
tion, a grower can achieve
both maximum yields and
quality on their crops.
A wet season may elimi
nate the need to irrigate, but
usually results in higher dis
ease pressure. In addition,
cloudy weather reduces the
sugar content of your crop at
harvest, and who wants to eat
a bland melon or peach? So
learn to manage your irriga
tion system to take advantage
of a drought!
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