Page 52 - Grapevine July-August 2019
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Around The Vineyard
chemical solutions exist to shock and treat these Managing Water Effectively
issues. Irrigation professionals should test water
quality throughout the season and provide treat- Fipps said one aspect often overlooked by grow-
ment plans to rehabilitate dirty lines and emitters ers is monitoring water quality. “Annual analysis
and implement continuous treatment to maintain of water quality, whether it’s from groundwater or
the lines after cleaning up.” surface water, should be conducted to check salin-
ity and mineral composition, which can affect both
Fipps added that if growers don’t already have the irrigation system as well as plant health,” he
flow meters and pressure gauges, now’s the time said. “Knowing the water quality helps guide grow-
to install them. ers on how much water to apply at irrigation, as
well as prevent any negative reactions from inject-
“Monitoring system pressure and flow rate are ing chemicals or fertilizers into the system.”
crucial for managing operation and scheduling.
Unfortunately, many vineyard drip systems lack He also strongly recommends soil moisture sen-
either a flow meter or pressure gauge—or both— sors—a technological tool that works to your
on their system,” Fipps said. “Observing situations advantage. Soil moisture sensors might initially
of increased flow or decreased pressure can often seem expensive, averaging $300-$500 per unit, plus
be signs of leaks in the system, whereas situations the cost of telemetry devices for data transmission
of decreased flow and increased pressure can be across the vineyard, but, Fipps said, “they take the
signs of clogging of the drip emitters.” guesswork out of deciding when it’s time to irri-
gate.” If you can’t afford to populate the vineyard
Pay Attention to Pumps with multiple sensors, some experts recommend
having one or two in an irrigation block representa-
“Attention to pump controls should always be tive of the overall field profile.
given,” Fipps told The Grapevine Magazine. “Pump
controls should be in manufacturer-recommended Hernandez also recommends expert analysis. His
housings that prevent moisture accumulation, or consultancy tries to bridge the gap.
pests like ants and wasps from building nests in or
above the components.” He added that “if injection “Certified crop advisors and other irrigation pro-
pumps are used for fertilizers or chemicals, hoses fessionals can help vineyard managers maintain
should be inspected and replaced if there are any and service their irrigation systems with analysis,
signs of cracking or dry rotting to prevent chemical implementation and ongoing monitoring to aid in
spills and waste.” the reduction of energy use; and improving crop
performance through better distribution uniformity
Hewitt said you might have to check impellers if (DU).”
pressure is lower than before, indicating they might
need replacing. Packing leaks might mean replace- As a method of irrigation application efficiency,
ment, but also a need to refill oil cups and install Hernandez offered two tips.
mechanical seals.
The first is setting up proper scheduling for both
Also, Hernandez suggested adding a variable fre- duration and amount of water to replace soil mois-
quency drive (VFD). “Adding a VFD to your pumping ture used by the vines. “Improper scheduling can
station allows for a soft start of pumping motors, result in runoff, deep percolation, crop stress and
reducing wear and tear. If growers have multiple even crop damage,” he said.
irrigation methods, various plant and row spacings,
different size irrigation sets or sets on slopes, VFDs His second tip is to “use monitoring technologies
allow for one pump to operate on a number of to give virtual pump test and DU evaluation data
different pressure and flow settings. This permits a every 15 minutes. These sensors give insight into
grower only to use the amount of energy they need the impact of changes in practice and hardware,”
for the particular set they’re irrigating,” he said. Hernandez said. “For example, if a DU evaluation
finds extensive plugging, we’ll want to rehabilitate
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