0:00Hi guys, we're in the propagation greenhouse here at Bountiful Blessings Farm and we want to go over watering systems and the techniques that that

0:07they use here and you know why you found these to be the best techniques over the years. So, Dad, give us the

0:14demonstration. Watering obviously is is very important in a greenhouse and we're

0:21still a bit old school on it in that we do it pretty much all by hand. Um and and there's reasons for that. You know,

0:30you're dealing with a lot of different size plants and different size. We use soil blocks. So, different size blocks.

0:40You know, we've also got plug trays, you know, 200 count plug trays. So, those are going to need way more water, dry out faster.

0:48Yeah. They're going to dry out much faster. So that's the challenge with any kind of automation is doing it in a way

0:56that takes into account the individual needs of the different size plants and different kinds of plants. So we're

1:05pretty much still just old school watering by hand and we've got two basic

1:12systems. We do have this overhead hose reel which works well Um, and and I would just put in a plug.

1:24We've tried lots of different watering wands and stuff and and this is the best combination we've come up with so far. This is all drram.

1:35Um, but you've got your your easy on off thing here. And then this is

1:43the the uh red head water breaker. It's got a thousand holes in it and it puts

1:52out a lot of water, but it's very gentle and so you can you can water fast but

2:00gently. And and the key for us is just keep it always moving because especially when you're working with soil blocks,

2:11if you just hold it in one place and the soil blocks are new, you're probably going to just melt the block. So, by

2:19keeping it moving, that takes care of that. Um,

2:25the other system we have is the overhead trolley, a hose trolley,

2:31uh, where it's just on a cable.

2:34And that honestly I think I prefer to to this hose reel. You know, we didn't

2:42start out with these overhead things. We started out just dragging hoses on the ground. And it doesn't take very long

2:51before you realize this is a real pain because it's getting caught on the edges of things. It's in the, you know, before

2:59we had concrete in here, it was in the mud. And and I don't know. It's just, it's one of

3:05those things where I would encourage growers to sooner rather than later get the hoses up off the ground.

3:14Yeah. To to recap, uh just blanket watering with overhead sprinklers like you have over here on this one uh

3:23propagation bench most of the times is not a good idea for prop houses because you have different

3:32sizes of blocks, different stages of crop. They all need different amounts of water. So, it's a it's almost an art. There's a lot of technique to it.

3:40Every day is different. you know, is it sunny or is it cloudy? Uh so yeah, just so many variables.

3:47So for from your experience to get the healthiest starts and uh be able to control the process, handwatering is is

3:54the way to go. You just have to embrace it and learn to love it and build the infrastructure like the overhead hose trolleys to just make the process easy.

4:06There's no struggle. Just come in here and get it done once or twice a day, I guess. Um, often times

4:12in the summer for your your um either paper pots or or 200 count trays. Yeah,

4:21you can. It often takes twice a day.

4:24Yeah. All righty. Well, we hope this has been information that's been helpful. Until next time, happy growing.

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