PLASTIC-CULTURE / MICROIRRIGATION PHASE ONE OF THE AGRICULTURAL CENTER
Micro-irrigation / plastic culture is a relatively new system of growing vegetables in the Calhoun County , Alabama area . This system employs a series of micro-irrigation drip tubes which are laid under a plastic mulch cover . A bedder / mulcher pulled behind a tractor forms a bed approximately 3 feet wide and 8 inches in height across the field . As the bed is formed the drip tubing is laid and covered under the plastic in one operation . The one inch diameter drip tube is connected to a four inch diameter pipe which is referred to as lay flat . This in turn is connected to a control unit which regulates the water pressure in the drip tubes as fertilizer and water is delivered to the plants . The drip tubes have small openings in them about 12 inches apart which are called emitters . The emitters deliver about one gallon of water per minute / 100 ’. The control unit is connected to a well or municipal water source . Holes are punctured in plastic where the seeds or bedding plants are planted . With this system , one can expect to get 2 to 3 times the harvest that would be produced in a conventional system .
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