Onion production, including germination, using close emitter spaced drip tape
An onion grower converted to close emitter spaced drip tape to germinate and grow their onions from overhead irrigation.
The onions are seeded into eight rows across a wide bed with the drip tape installed sub-surface between rows 2 & 3 and 6 & 7.
The drip tape product used is 510-15-170 (510-06-45) with a 0.25L (0.07gal)/hr emitter. The chosen drip tape product was correctly matched to the soil type to provide the width of moisture across the top of the bed required to germinate multiple rows of seeds.
The bed configuration including the onion plant rows and the two lines of drip tape. The wetted zone is evident in the image by the soil surface color being darker compared to the inter-row space and shows the ability to maintain the lateral spread of moisture across the bed.
Uniform onion crop at mid-growth stage
Reasons the grower chose Rivulis T-Tape with close emitter spacing included the following:
- Less impact to wind compared to overhead irrigation.
- Water use efficiency
- Less inter-row weed management.
- Evenness of harvested onions
- Improved yield and quality
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