Automatic water system for hundreds of trees

[SuperMarioZZZ]

I saw in different videos and pics that some of the bonsai professionals who have hundreds of trees are using automatic water systems.

What kind of systems are these? How does it work?

Different trees need different amounts of water. Some trees need to be watered 2 times a day and others one time in 2-3 days (I am referring for example to conifers just collected).

Is it a safe and reliable system for using the whole year?

I am asking because I am considering to buy a land plot that is not very close to my house, specifically for this hobby and I will go visit the location a couple of times per week.

An automatic watering system will save me in this situation.

 

[Anthony]

Simple Vlad,

ask the professiomals.
We have well over 300 plants [ probably closer to 600
plants - lots of experiments ]
And we still hand water.
Good Day
Anthony

 

[peterbone]

I think that most automated watering systems assume that you can't overwater. If you have newly collected material then I would water that by hand. If you can't do that then you could use 2 timers connected to the same water outlet. Harry Harrington is using 3 timers. This also enables you to water more trees from a single water outlet without loss of pressure.

Watering Bonsai While on Holiday or Vacation – Bonsai4Me

bonsai4me.com

 

[Cajunrider]

I have sprinklers with different schedules. Some are twice a day some 3 times a day. I move my trees around in the watered zones until I find the place that is right for them. Of course the wind plays havoc on them at times. When that happens I hand water.

 

[AJL]

Sprinklers are wasteful and dont accurately deliver water where its needed at the roots.Also they wet the foliage can increase risk of spreading some fungal diseases and leaf scorch
You are far better go for a drip irrigation system if you cant manage hand watering IMHO!
Also dont rely on any automated irrigation system 100% as it can go wrong when your away from home with dire consequences!!

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

Depends on how you are growing your plants; if you keep them potted up, people will steal the plants. If you plant them in the ground, you could use agricultural sprinklers.

I have used drippers, all connected to a hose system. But I haven't put it on a timer though. The drippers could be adjusted to drip a lot or just a little. With high water pressure they would turn into sprinkers.

 

[Cajunrider]

Sprinklers are wasteful and dont accurately deliver water where its needed at the roots.Also they wet the foliage can increase risk of spreading some fungal diseases and leaf scorch
You are far better go for a drip irrigation system if you cant manage hand watering IMHO!
Also dont rely on any automated irrigation system 100% as it can go wrong when your away from home with dire consequences!!

I'm not arguing that hand watering isn't the best. However the sprinklers are what I can manage.
Beside the water quality, which is another issue all together, how are sprinklers much different than rain? All plants take rain just fine as far as I know. My friends at the nursery that have to take care of thousands and thousands of potted plant all use sprinkler systems.
For sure when I get high value bonsai, I will look into better method of watering. Right now I just have experiments and pre-bonsai stuff, sprinklers are what I have.

 

[Adair M]

This;

SPOT-SPITTER | Primerus Products, LLC

primerusproducts.com

 

[SquatJar]

Sprinklers are wasteful and dont accurately deliver water where its needed at the roots.Also they wet the foliage can increase risk of spreading some fungal diseases and leaf scorch

I agree with most of your comments but water on leaves does not cause or increase the chances of leaf scorch. Drippers also don't work too well with free draining bonsai mix, it just goes straight through and most of the pot stays dry. The best we've found in Australia is a product made by Antelco called CFd. They're a fine spreading mist/spray angled down at 45o so wind doesnt effect them, 2 per pot works great.

There's also ways to mitigate the risk of failure. I.e. 2 solenoids and lines for the same plants and a flow sensor set up to push notifications when flow is above or below a threshold when a program is running

 

[eryk2kartman]

Check this out

Automatic 4-Zone Irrigation System Watering Timer Garden Water Timer Controller System with 2 Solenoid Valve: Amazon.co.uk: Welcome

Automatic 4-Zone Irrigation System Watering Timer Garden Water Timer Controller System with 2 Solenoid Valve: Automatic 4-Zone Irrigation System Watering Timer Garden Water Timer Controller System with 2 Solenoid Valve: Amazon.co.uk: Welcome

www.amazon.co.uk

I guess if there is no access to mains you would see some sort of solar power system, and maybe rain water collecting system ?

 

[Anthony]

Suggestion is for high quality bonsai -

30 to 60 efforts [ probably at 2 feet / 61 cm]

If you are planning to sell.
Well .........
Good Day
Anthony