Irrigation turned out to be more challenging than we thought. Originally, we had planned a simple drip feed off a header line, but the water wasn’t getting where it needed to go to the baby plants, especially when the tubing flexed in the heat – it can go a couple feet in either direction at times in the sun! So we bought some branch tubing and some watering stakes… an investment for sure, but it places the water exactly where it needs to be. Over time as the plan sizes increase we can cycle them over to the new babies that need more accurate water placement.
Right now, we have Bed #1 open and about 11 rows planted at roughly 80% of capacity. We lost some of the cloned babies, which was anticipated, but still a setback. Overall the majority of plants have done very well, despite slow and incremental progress in planting everything over the summer. At this point we’re starting winter preparation and are ready with low tunnel supplies, frost fabric, and mulch. After that, it’s onto more seedlings and back to the indoor setup and hydroponics! I’ve got some plans to improve watering automation inside. Hopefully we can open up a couple more beds about the size of Bed 1 in the spring.