Itydee:
We are so challenged with water supply and the fuel for the pumping of water is killing. 240/ litre and we need 15 litres daily and transport fare of 1.5k too..
I have challenges from all fronts. Security, Lazy workers, Long distance from my house to the farm and also for the workers, ignorance and deliberate vandalism by workers, duping mentor and harsh weather, wild birds and animals digging up plants and other infections despite chemicals sprayed regularly.

fluentinfor:


Oh Christ. Actually, if you had used drip, you would not have needed more that 2 liters of petrol daily. And if water is surplus and mud pump could be use, you may use 30 liters for about 30,000 plants (15 plots, 1 ha) for 10 - 14 days. A friend was using submersible pump with generator on his farm which was in a swampy area. This fuel scarcity showed him pepper too. He lamented and I went to his farm. I saw that he was even on a swampy land. That was when i called one of the engineers I work with. I told my friend not to think we are wasting cash. By the time all was done well and the engineer said the water in this dry season is ok, he installed a borehole which is powered by a mud pump. You can imagine the volume of water pumped out by 5.5hp pump using 3 inches pipe. And he changed to drip from sprinkler. Cost of buying fuel reduced by over 85%. That was when his eyes opened. Not everything that is cheap is really cheap. You need to be smart and think like an engineer when setting up farms.

I will rather go for quality materials which may be expensive and make my daily cost of operation low, than buy cheap things and start spending high daily. Why trouble your workers carrying hose about when they can just turn on the pump and allow drip do the job while they handle other activities. The cost of that worker carrying hose about on your field is actually not worth It. It is purely senseless to me. I apologize again if i am rude. It is so sad when I see workers wasting time carrying hose about. Very inefficient.

Water output is a factor you must consider when setting up vegetable farm if you want to farm during dry season. It is why you see some farmers go vertical. Again, recirculatory is another option if you can set up solar energy.

The issue is that many people do not know how to set up well and they end up wasting too much while learning. And many consultants are just there too...they know nothing and mislead many.

I will do you a big favor sir. Send me an email. I will show you everything you need to know about drip irrigation and sprinkler. I will tell you what to buy and what not to. What you need to ask sellers and what you need to disregard. Water pressure is another factor you take into consideration. Using fertigation is a very big advantage. And the power rating of your generator is vital. Then, you can go around and see who to buy from. Please take note, I do not sell drip irrigation or any farming equipment.

Most people on nairaland still do not understand veggie farming. The first things they run after is seed and land. But the first are: drip irrigation and workers. When i say workers, i know what i am saying. You have had a big experience sir. If you had been told that you need to buckle up in this area, you might have said you are good in managing people. Lol. Handling farm workers, consultants, fellow farmers in small to medium scale farming setting is a different ball game. These people are more terrible pest than thrips, aphids and whitefiles.

fluentinfor:
Let me just drop the details here as I have received too many messages that I cannot start replying everyone.


Which type of drip?
There are two kinds of drip irrigation systems. One that has embedded emmiters and one that you drill holes into by yourself and fix emitters on the holes. Embedded is cheaper; hence, it is what you should use.

Thickness
I recommend you pick 0.3mm and above. 0.2mm is too common in Nigeria. It is ok for gravity fed systems but if you are usig pressure like me, the day you set it up is the day it starts bursting here and there. It is too light for my kind of work. In short, you can only enjoy it in its first season. After, you will not like it again. Better to take 0.4mm but 0.3mm is ok. The thicker the drip, the more expensive it is.

Rate of Flow:
Anything 1L/hr is ok but I prefer you choose 2L/hr and above.

Size:
16mm diameter is more appropriate.

Spacing:
Most people choose 30cm emitter spacing but really I do not know why. When they want to cultivate another crop that needs more spacing, they tell you to skip the next emitter. If you have 1,000m drip, this is like 3,333 emitters which should handle 3,333 plants. But skipping every other emitter slashed it to 1,667 plants. And it means you keep wasting fuel on the other 1,667 spaces you skipped. Also, you will be discouraged to use fertigation as you will waste fertilizer on 1,667 spaces feeding weed. Well, do not just go for 30cm. I know most sellers will just tell you 30cm bla bla bla. Know about the kinds of crops you want to cultivate. If it is cucumber and you are in a downy mildew infected area, choose 40cm or 50cm. If you are the type who cultivates cucumber, tomato and watermelon, 50cm is more appropriate. You can imagine using 30cm to cultivate watermelon. You will have to skip every 2 emitters and plant on every other.

Fertigation:
Learn how to use it. It saves you so much. All those 1 inch venturis will take you no where in my own opinion. Well, the cheapest kit is still venturi but it works under minimum of 2 bar. Gravity will not work as it is around 0.2bar.

Filter:
I avoid using it except the water source is terribly dirty. Filter reduces pressure so much but I always have it around and I just remove the disc or mesh inside when I do not need it. When i need it, I fix it. Use 120 to 130 mesh filter.

I always cut my drip into 40m length which means my beds are usually 40cm length. Many times I have used 50 - 60m if i have high water pressure.

Main Line
This is the line that runs across the top of all your beds where the drip lines are connected to and where fertigation not and filter are connected. Many use 1 inch. If you have more than one acre, I suggest you use minimum of 2 inches. Infact, if you use mud pump of 3 inches, do not reduce it. Lay 3 inches across your farm as this will give you super volume of water and the pressure wil be high. You may be able to irrigate half of your farm at once or maybe your whole farm at once.

Connectors:
Valve connectors to the main pipes (make sure it has valve, do not buy the ones without valve. What I see around are those without valves). Seller are not farmers, they buy what they profit more on.

End caps:
Insist on buying this too. I have used sticks only to tie the end of my lines but they aren't the best.

Connectors of drip lines:
I doubt if sellers give you this. But you will have bursts, so you need these to connect your lines without leakags.

How many drip lines do I need per acre?
My recommendation is 1 km per plot. If cucumber, it is around 1km per plot. If watermelon, it may be around 1/4km to 1/2km per plot depending on your spacing. So, it is a wrong question to ask how many km do I need per acre. Very wrong and naive question. It is cos the buyers are naive is the reason sellers customized 4km per acre. To know what quantity you need for a particular crop, you must know the spacing you need. The bed spacing, row spacing, and most importantly, your arithmetic must be sound.

For example watermelon:
1 acre = 4,000 sqm.
Let say your beds are 40m long.
So, it means you have 100m × 40m land
If you have 2m btw rows, you will have about 51 lines. So, you need just 51 × 40 = 2040m. You can simply pick 2km. If you have more than 2m btw rows, you need less and if it is smaller, you need more. So, you see that you limit yourself by not knowing the details of drip irrigation. Sellers are not farmers, stop listening to them. However, there are sellers that are good.

1 acre cucumber:
40m beds long.
Let's say you make your beds 80cm and walk path 40cm, you will have around 83 beds. You then have two lines per bed. So, you have 166 lines. In total, you need 6,666m (6.6km.) But many sellers tell you need 4km just because they also do not know or because they do not want the wahala of explaining too much. . Ok. If you make your beds 1m width, and path way 50cm, you need less. So, this is it. You must know what you are doing and not just dive into farming like a Jaguar.

I am a very busy person and may not be able to attend to every inquiry as I receive too many mails daily.

Hope this helps.

Itydee:
thanks. It only confused me the more. All the same I will read it up.
Tell me where I can get the preferred products in Port Harcourt or Lagos.

fluentinfor:


Pictures could have made the details clearer. Will give u a contact you can get them at fair prices.

LUKINGUY:
It’s better you try to understand his illustrations. It’s clearer only it’s more mathematical.

He has point listed let’s know which exact point you don’t understand then I can explain further.

Thanks

fluentinfor:
Let me just drop the details here as I have received too many messages that I cannot start replying everyone.


Which type of drip?
There are two kinds of drip irrigation systems. One that has embedded emmiters and one that you drill holes into by yourself and fix emitters on the holes. Embedded is cheaper; hence, it is what you should use.

Thickness
I recommend you pick 0.3mm and above. 0.2mm is too common in Nigeria. It is ok for gravity fed systems but if you are usig pressure like me, the day you set it up is the day it starts bursting here and there. It is too light for my kind of work. In short, you can only enjoy it in its first season. After, you will not like it again. Better to take 0.4mm but 0.3mm is ok. The thicker the drip, the more expensive it is.

Rate of Flow:
Anything 1L/hr is ok but I prefer you choose 2L/hr and above.

Size:
16mm diameter is more appropriate.

Spacing:
Most people choose 30cm emitter spacing but really I do not know why. When they want to cultivate another crop that needs more spacing, they tell you to skip the next emitter. If you have 1,000m drip, this is like 3,333 emitters which should handle 3,333 plants. But skipping every other emitter slashed it to 1,667 plants. And it means you keep wasting fuel on the other 1,667 spaces you skipped. Also, you will be discouraged to use fertigation as you will waste fertilizer on 1,667 spaces feeding weed. Well, do not just go for 30cm. I know most sellers will just tell you 30cm bla bla bla. Know about the kinds of crops you want to cultivate. If it is cucumber and you are in a downy mildew infected area, choose 40cm or 50cm. If you are the type who cultivates cucumber, tomato and watermelon, 50cm is more appropriate. You can imagine using 30cm to cultivate watermelon. You will have to skip every 2 emitters and plant on every other.

Fertigation:
Learn how to use it. It saves you so much. All those 1 inch venturis will take you no where in my own opinion. Well, the cheapest kit is still venturi but it works under minimum of 2 bar. Gravity will not work as it is around 0.2bar.

Filter:
I avoid using it except the water source is terribly dirty. Filter reduces pressure so much but I always have it around and I just remove the disc or mesh inside when I do not need it. When i need it, I fix it. Use 120 to 130 mesh filter.

I always cut my drip into 40m length which means my beds are usually 40cm length. Many times I have used 50 - 60m if i have high water pressure.

Main Line
This is the line that runs across the top of all your beds where the drip lines are connected to and where fertigation not and filter are connected. Many use 1 inch. If you have more than one acre, I suggest you use minimum of 2 inches. Infact, if you use mud pump of 3 inches, do not reduce it. Lay 3 inches across your farm as this will give you super volume of water and the pressure wil be high. You may be able to irrigate half of your farm at once or maybe your whole farm at once.

Connectors:
Valve connectors to the main pipes (make sure it has valve, do not buy the ones without valve. What I see around are those without valves). Seller are not farmers, they buy what they profit more on.

End caps:
Insist on buying this too. I have used sticks only to tie the end of my lines but they aren't the best.

Connectors of drip lines:
I doubt if sellers give you this. But you will have bursts, so you need these to connect your lines without leakags.

How many drip lines do I need per acre?
My recommendation is 1 km per plot. If cucumber, it is around 1km per plot. If watermelon, it may be around 1/4km to 1/2km per plot depending on your spacing. So, it is a wrong question to ask how many km do I need per acre. Very wrong and naive question. It is cos the buyers are naive is the reason sellers customized 4km per acre. To know what quantity you need for a particular crop, you must know the spacing you need. The bed spacing, row spacing, and most importantly, your arithmetic must be sound.

For example watermelon:
1 acre = 4,000 sqm.
Let say your beds are 40m long.
So, it means you have 100m × 40m land
If you have 2m btw rows, you will have about 51 lines. So, you need just 51 × 40 = 2040m. You can simply pick 2km. If you have more than 2m btw rows, you need less and if it is smaller, you need more. So, you see that you limit yourself by not knowing the details of drip irrigation. Sellers are not farmers, stop listening to them. However, there are sellers that are good.

1 acre cucumber:
40m beds long.
Let's say you make your beds 80cm and walk path 40cm, you will have around 83 beds. You then have two lines per bed. So, you have 166 lines. In total, you need 6,666m (6.6km.) But many sellers tell you need 4km just because they also do not know or because they do not want the wahala of explaining too much. . Ok. If you make your beds 1m width, and path way 50cm, you need less. So, this is it. You must know what you are doing and not just dive into farming like a Jaguar.

I am a very busy person and may not be able to attend to every inquiry as I receive too many mails daily.

Hope this helps.

Thanks your explanation is spot on but I will like you to talk on the issue of pump, so that we can know the necessary pressure needed to irrigate 1 acres

Itydee:
My cukes are flowering and fruiting seriously. Is it advisable to spray pesticide now?
Won't it disturb pollination of the fruits. I planted CU 999. Thailand cukes

Itydee:
Today I tried to prepare nursery for the cukes seeds. I used my 3 disused headbands. I mixed loamy soil with chicken droppings and added water. I churned the whole gamut together and planted the seeds. Waiting to see the outcome in few days. Let's pray I don't lose my expensive and precious seeds.
Pictures will follow latter

fluentinfor:
Very interesting. I was reluctant to make any comment but maybe my suggestions will help you.

You spend N30,000 on seeds, if hybrid, it should be around 150 grams and you really should not expect more than 85% germination rate with the seeds around. Or did you think you are getting 100% germination rate? Gone are the days I used to get over 95%. Such are the seeds we have now.

Yes, crickets eat cucumber seeds during this period. I really do not know what option you have if you are doing organic but if inorganic, Dimethoate 40 % EC will help you. Spray every evening and morning till seeds germinates. After germination, use common sense in spraying as they can still eat young seedlings. 2 weeks duration is too long. You may alternate with another active systemic ingredient. Honestly, you need very strong pesticides to survive the first 10 days Afterwards, reduce spraying chemical drastically but do not leave out Imidaclorid so you can combat thrips, aphids and Whitefies. Also, get your fungicides ready.

I am not scaring you but how on earth do you think you can manage using hose only to irrigate your cucumber well. Honestly, I am still shocked many still want to farm like our olden grandparents. Did they have succesful agricultural system? If they do not, how do you think you will be succesful using their style. The first equipment you suppose to buy even before seed is your drip irrigation. I do not know why most users here think using hose is wise. Anyway, I do no know how you will perform with this style of irrigation. Honestly. You may be tough to scale through but as for me, I do not farm to land myself in any hospital. I have never used my profit to treat myself afterward. Let us be smart.

Ok, you need to irrigate morning and evening, and it may take hours, look at your plant spacing. It means you are going to stake. Hahahhaa. You will stake and irrigate manually. Bro, I cannot just but pity what is going to happen there. After staking one 50g can seed , you will hear it. Hope you have paracetamol. And if you had to pay for making your beds, it means you do not have full time workers. No full time workers for staked cucumbers? Bro, you are also going to prune.

Anyway, I think you should get one or two full time workers fast. You can still make it. Next time, farm with drip irrigation. I repeat, get your drip. It is not even too late, if you have cash with you, quickly get your drip irrigation.

I wish you the best.

opelyem:


This analysis just weak me. I was planning to plant 2 plots of cucumber this coming raining season but it is like I have to drop the idea.

fluentinfor:


I think you need to relax. You have not got things right yet and you are spending more on seeds. Why waste money more? And you have still not got your irrigation right. Have You?

At least finish the set you have done and see. If it is the same plot of land you planted on like trying to replant the areas that are eaten, it is a big mistake. Lol. The old ones are already flowering and you have just planted new sets. I think you need to learn first. Just my opinion. Stop spending cos you are desperate to recover your money; else, you will end up spending more and more.

Itydee:
Thanks man for the advice.
I will try. though I make mistakes and lose money I don't mind. I just want to learn well and run the race. I just acquired 40 plots for my permanent integrated farm. Will keep you posted as we progress. the fear of lose of money makes people run away from investing in what could turn their lives around. I'm a beneficiary of multiple failures. It works that way for me

fluentinfor:
Let me just drop the details here as I have received too many messages that I cannot start replying everyone.


Which type of drip?
There are two kinds of drip irrigation systems. One that has embedded emmiters and one that you drill holes into by yourself and fix emitters on the holes. Embedded is cheaper; hence, it is what you should use.

Thickness
I recommend you pick 0.3mm and above. 0.2mm is too common in Nigeria. It is ok for gravity fed systems but if you are usig pressure like me, the day you set it up is the day it starts bursting here and there. It is too light for my kind of work. In short, you can only enjoy it in its first season. After, you will not like it again. Better to take 0.4mm but 0.3mm is ok. The thicker the drip, the more expensive it is.

Rate of Flow:
Anything 1L/hr is ok but I prefer you choose 2L/hr and above.

Size:
16mm diameter is more appropriate.

Spacing:
Most people choose 30cm emitter spacing but really I do not know why. When they want to cultivate another crop that needs more spacing, they tell you to skip the next emitter. If you have 1,000m drip, this is like 3,333 emitters which should handle 3,333 plants. But skipping every other emitter slashed it to 1,667 plants. And it means you keep wasting fuel on the other 1,667 spaces you skipped. Also, you will be discouraged to use fertigation as you will waste fertilizer on 1,667 spaces feeding weed. Well, do not just go for 30cm. I know most sellers will just tell you 30cm bla bla bla. Know about the kinds of crops you want to cultivate. If it is cucumber and you are in a downy mildew infected area, choose 40cm or 50cm. If you are the type who cultivates cucumber, tomato and watermelon, 50cm is more appropriate. You can imagine using 30cm to cultivate watermelon. You will have to skip every 2 emitters and plant on every other.

Fertigation:
Learn how to use it. It saves you so much. All those 1 inch venturis will take you no where in my own opinion. Well, the cheapest kit is still venturi but it works under minimum of 2 bar. Gravity will not work as it is around 0.2bar.

Filter:
I avoid using it except the water source is terribly dirty. Filter reduces pressure so much but I always have it around and I just remove the disc or mesh inside when I do not need it. When i need it, I fix it. Use 120 to 130 mesh filter.

I always cut my drip into 40m length which means my beds are usually 40cm length. Many times I have used 50 - 60m if i have high water pressure.

Main Line
This is the line that runs across the top of all your beds where the drip lines are connected to and where fertigation not and filter are connected. Many use 1 inch. If you have more than one acre, I suggest you use minimum of 2 inches. Infact, if you use mud pump of 3 inches, do not reduce it. Lay 3 inches across your farm as this will give you super volume of water and the pressure wil be high. You may be able to irrigate half of your farm at once or maybe your whole farm at once.

Connectors:
Valve connectors to the main pipes (make sure it has valve, do not buy the ones without valve. What I see around are those without valves). Seller are not farmers, they buy what they profit more on.

End caps:
Insist on buying this too. I have used sticks only to tie the end of my lines but they aren't the best.

Connectors of drip lines:
I doubt if sellers give you this. But you will have bursts, so you need these to connect your lines without leakags.

How many drip lines do I need per acre?
My recommendation is 1 km per plot. If cucumber, it is around 1km per plot. If watermelon, it may be around 1/4km to 1/2km per plot depending on your spacing. So, it is a wrong question to ask how many km do I need per acre. Very wrong and naive question. It is cos the buyers are naive is the reason sellers customized 4km per acre. To know what quantity you need for a particular crop, you must know the spacing you need. The bed spacing, row spacing, and most importantly, your arithmetic must be sound.

For example watermelon:
1 acre = 4,000 sqm.
Let say your beds are 40m long.
So, it means you have 100m × 40m land
If you have 2m btw rows, you will have about 51 lines. So, you need just 51 × 40 = 2040m. You can simply pick 2km. If you have more than 2m btw rows, you need less and if it is smaller, you need more. So, you see that you limit yourself by not knowing the details of drip irrigation. Sellers are not farmers, stop listening to them. However, there are sellers that are good.

1 acre cucumber:
40m beds long.
Let's say you make your beds 80cm and walk path 40cm, you will have around 83 beds. You then have two lines per bed. So, you have 166 lines. In total, you need 6,666m (6.6km.) But many sellers tell you need 4km just because they also do not know or because they do not want the wahala of explaining too much. . Ok. If you make your beds 1m width, and path way 50cm, you need less. So, this is it. You must know what you are doing and not just dive into farming like a Jaguar.

I am a very busy person and may not be able to attend to every inquiry as I receive too many mails daily.

Hope this helps.

fluentinfor:
Very interesting. I was reluctant to make any comment but maybe my suggestions will help you.

You spend N30,000 on seeds, if hybrid, it should be around 150 grams and you really should not expect more than 85% germination rate with the seeds around. Or did you think you are getting 100% germination rate? Gone are the days I used to get over 95%. Such are the seeds we have now.

Yes, crickets eat cucumber seeds during this period. I really do not know what option you have if you are doing organic but if inorganic, Dimethoate 40 % EC will help you. Spray every evening and morning till seeds germinates. After germination, use common sense in spraying as they can still eat young seedlings. 2 weeks duration is too long. You may alternate with another active systemic ingredient. Honestly, you need very strong pesticides to survive the first 10 days Afterwards, reduce spraying chemical drastically but do not leave out Imidaclorid so you can combat thrips, aphids and Whitefies. Also, get your fungicides ready.

I am not scaring you but how on earth do you think you can manage using hose only to irrigate your cucumber well. Honestly, I am still shocked many still want to farm like our olden grandparents. Did they have succesful agricultural system? If they do not, how do you think you will be succesful using their style. The first equipment you suppose to buy even before seed is your drip irrigation. I do not know why most users here think using hose is wise. Anyway, I do no know how you will perform with this style of irrigation. Honestly. You may be tough to scale through but as for me, I do not farm to land myself in any hospital. I have never used my profit to treat myself afterward. Let us be smart.

Ok, you need to irrigate morning and evening, and it may take hours, look at your plant spacing. It means you are going to stake. Hahahhaa. You will stake and irrigate manually. Bro, I cannot just but pity what is going to happen there. After staking one 50g can seed , you will hear it. Hope you have paracetamol. And if you had to pay for making your beds, it means you do not have full time workers. No full time workers for staked cucumbers? Bro, you are also going to prune.

Anyway, I think you should get one or two full time workers fast. You can still make it. Next time, farm with drip irrigation. I repeat, get your drip. It is not even too late, if you have cash with you, quickly get your drip irrigation.

I wish you the best.

domack99:


Funny, I recently went through this analysis while ordering my irrigation system.

fluentinfor:


I met a smart young lady recently. She listened to wise counsel and she was lucky to get used drip for a very good bargain. Good farmers replace their drip every 2 years.

From interaction with lovers of Agric, most people who have set up their minds on rainy season vegetable farming do not always make it. Even they make profit during a season, they will still return to their mentality of relying on rain.

I mean, no one should even be thinking of relying on rain at this time of ours. Technology has gone too far. Weather has changed too.

During rainy season, you can cultivate watermelon. Do not ever try cucumber because if there is a sudden rain break, all your flowers will get aborted and your fruits will start folding (curved cucumbers). For watermelon, you risk facing glut in the market because over 90% farmers in SW, SS and SE rely on rain. And funny, hausa farmers understand the game too. They do not try to compete with other regions at this time.

Tomato is the main crop one should try to set the harvest period to rainy season, this is if you can irrigate it during dry season. If you enough time to spend on farm and irrigate by yourself, one plot is enough. You can get soda bottles and turn them to drip. If it is just one plot you can do and push it to rainy season, you will have huge profit. The question is that can you really do it? If hausas run away from rainy season tomato, can you step up the game?

If it is just drip irrigation you can buy now, go for it and keep. Many farmers purchase theirs 12 months before using them. Buy now, keep them, make profit with them later when you can afford a good borehole, pump or whatsoever water source installation you need to do.

adescopy:
Thanks your explanation is spot on but I will like you to talk on the issue of pump, so that we can know the necessary pressure needed to irrigate 1 acres

LUKINGUY:


Source of water
Land topography

Note: Drip works well with gravity. It doesn’t require too much of pressure if there is enough flow. What matters most is flow rate with pressure.

The effciency of drips is on the design. The amount spent on drip doesn’t make your system perfect but the professionalism application. Many spend more with less efficiency because they want to save more money (Penny Wise Pounds foolish).

Further question I will be willing to take on this

If you want to buy drip buy from someone who has good knowledge about it. Who is capable to support Incase you face crisis

fluentinfor:


I think you just jumped into farm. Cucumber is a very fast crop. You need to spray when there are pests. And you prevent viral and fungi diseases. I hope you have staked all your plants.

You need to be careful and read well about chemicals. There should be regulations how chemicals are used. Read the instruction on the bottle or pack.

Contact insecticide like cypermerhrine alternated with Lambda- Cyhalothrin + Imidacloprid + copper Based fungicide alternated with mancozeb or any other fungicide + 20- 20- 20 Liquid fertilizer + water conditioner.

Best of luck.

aboutbiz:


@fluentinfor sir thank you so much for your advice. Please sir can you explain in details on how to fertilize cucumber to have maximum yield, and @ what stage to fertilize. Thank you sir