What is the best way to monitor my irrigation and fertilization?

There are two useful ways to monitor irrigation and fertilization.Drainage: Drainage helps to make sure that you irrigate the right volume and that you don’t accumulate salt in your substrate, which could harm your plants. Carrying out chemical analysis of both drainage water and irrigation water at least once every two weeks will help to expose an unbalanced process.Soil moisture sensors: These will help you to continually monitor water content in your substrate. Once you're familiar with your crop and substrate, you can adjust irrigation and fertilization schedules for optimum yield.

What are the benefits of Compensated Non-Leakage (CNL) drippers?

Irrigation of soilless media is done through short irrigation pulses. CNL drippers help you increase fertigation uniformity by preventing system drainage and thus eliminating the refilling time of the system. That means all the drippers start and stop at the same time every irrigation cycle, guaranteeing equal quantities of water and fertilizers to all plants.

How do the EC and pH affect my greenhouse tomatoes?

Getting the right EC, pH and nutrient levels in your root zone makes for much faster-growing and high yielding crops. This is especially true when growing in soilless media, since the growing medium has low buffer capabilities and demands a fast, precise reaction.A precision drip system can often help in delivering the right nutrient level to your plants. It allows you to keep all parameters exactly where you need them and to react to changes on demand.

What is pulse irrigation and why is it so common in substrate cultivation?

Pulse irrigation is an approach that uses frequent irrigations with short durations. The objective is to match the application rate of the irrigation system with the absorption rates of the substrate, so no water or nutrients are wasted. This is done by applying the water in cycles of short duration irrigation, followed by a rest period. That rest lets the substrate absorb the water before more is added.

Water systems

Greenhouse water systems from the people who invented them

Water is a key factor in the success of any greenhouse project. Given the limited soil buffer, greenhouse irrigation systems and fertigation systems are crucial for the quality and yield of your crop. At Netafim we are world leaders in this field, offering flexible greenhouse irrigation and fertigation systems that deliver water and nutrients according to a plant's specific needs:

Netafim trademark PCJ-CNL drippers
Netafim fertigation systems
Netafim trademark sprinklers

Finding the right greenhouse irrigation system for your project:

Crop analysis

Different crops will require different irrigation protocol.

Substrate analysis

Soil, soilless and pot growing all require different greenhouse irrigation systems.

Climate analysis

Geography, climate and radiation levels will affect plants transpiration rate.

Water analysis

To establish the water source and quality for your greenhouse irrigation system.

Planning your water room

This room will include your water tanks, fertilizers tanks, fertigation machines and pumps and filtration system.

Choosing the drippers and driplines

Including our innovative ‘point of irrigation’ PCJ drippers.

PCJ drippers: the world’s most precise drip solution

When the fruits, vegetables or plants in your greenhouses or nurseries demand nothing less than 100% uniformity of water and nutrient distribution, PCJ self-cleaning drippers are the best greenhouse irrigation system to guarantee top performance for your precious investments.

Consistently uniform yields: Precision delivery of water and nutrients over a broad pressure range assures excellent crop uniformity and consistently high yields.
Clogging resistance: Continuous self-flushing technology ensures consistent flow rates and flawless operation.
Easy to scale: The number of drippers in this greenhouse irrigation system can be easily increased, ensuring enough water to meet your plants’ growth-rate requirements.
Maximum flexibility: Micro-tubes allow drippers to be positioned exactly where required and split into several drip outlets if needed.
Anti-drain mechanism (in LCNL & HCNL models): Eliminates drainage & refill effect and improves efficiency during pulse irrigation.

PCJ drippers: the world’s most precise drip solution (greenhouses)

Feeding your plants precisely what they need

When grown in ideal conditions, your plants will reward you with healthy crops and high-quality yields. Feeding plants in the most optimal way is crucial in creating optimal crop results. Therefore, we've developed the fertigation (fertilizers + irrigation) technique - using drip as a delivery system for nutrients.

Fertigation is all about quantities, nutrient combinations, and precise timing. Precision fertigation is the optimal root-zone management tool, delivering just the right combination of water and nutrients directly to the roots of each plant, according to your crop development cycles.

Precision fertigation optimizes your fertilizer investment by letting you change dosages on-demand. For instance, in response to setbacks like market fluctuations and weather changes.

When dealing with greenhouse soilless cultivation, precision and homogeneity is crucial. Soilless substrates have a very low buffer capacity (depends both on substrate and container characters) so water and nutrients must be delivered to the plants in small doses and with very high accuracy. To do this, we've created Netafim's industry leading multi-channel dosing machines.

NETAJET 4G™

Suitable for greenhouses and net houses in both soil and soilless media, NetaJet™ 4G features a unique analog dosing valve to ensure highly-accurate and reliable EC/pH control.

NETAFLEX™ 3G

NetaFlex™ 3G is a fully homogeneous multi-channel dosing solution suitable for greenhouses both in soil and soilless environments., NetaFlex™ 3G features a state of the art open-tank dosing system, which ensures extremely precise, uniform nutrient dosing.

PCJ ONLINE

Pressure-compensated drippers – with an optional anti-drain feature – designed to give you 100% uniformity of water and nutrient distribution. And they’re constantly self-cleaning to prevent clogging. Ideal for greenhouses and nurseries.

READY TO GROW?

Learn how we can help design and deliver your next greenhouse project.

Saving water through disinfection

In greenhouse irrigation systems, we constantly recycle about 20-30% of the water used – disinfecting it and then mixing it with fresh water from an external source. This reduces water use but also fertilizer use, as the recycled water retains nutrients from one cycle to the next.

We use a variety of disinfection techniques in our greenhouse irrigation systems, including UV, Ozone and leading micro-filtration systems that are also used in the medical sector due to their high efficiency.

Our water disinfection solutions are simple to use and once installed require little maintenance. You can also select different doses depending on your crop and the pathogens you’re guarding against.

Water recycling via greenhouse irrigation systems is cost effective – and also highly sustainable, as reusing drain water prevents land and water contamination.

Reverse osmosis systems

Reverse Osmosis (RO) greenhouse irrigation systems enable the desalination and filtration of water to provide water for your irrigation system. These systems extract salts, organic substances and other dissolved particles, along with bacteria and viruses. Our Reverse Osmosis systems are tailor-designed – each made to answer the specific needs of your crop and the condition of your water source.

Hydroponic greenhouse systems

As a leader in greenhouse irrigation systems, we also offer a range of hydroponic systems, including NFT and ‘Ebb n Flood’:

NFT Systems

Nutrient Film Technique (NFT) is a hydroponic system that’s very resource and labor efficient. It offers a significant saving in terms of space, water, fertilizers and pesticides – and is currently the preferred method for growing lettuces and herbs around the world.

In NFT, plants are grown in plastic gullies. A solution of fresh oxygenated water and minerals is pumped to the high end of the gully and flows to the low end where it's collected in a reservoir.

The Netafim NMC controller keeps the plant roots in the gully moist but not waterlogged, and provides them with the ideal blend of water, minerals and oxygen. We also use additional systems such as filtration, sanitation and chilling (if required) to keep the running water clean and cool.

NFT technology helps you grow premium quality produce all year round. With its minimum inputs of water, fertilizer and pesticides, it's also a cost efficient, sustainable growing method.

Netafim NFT Systems are in-house designed and manufactured to guarantee quality, reliability and performance.

Growing lettuce and herbs in a greenhouse using an NFT system

Ebb n Flood System

‘Ebb and Flood’ (or ‘Flood and Drain’) is a different greenhouse irrigation system involving the periodic flooding and draining of the nutrient solution.

The system works in two phases: water and nutrients flow through the growing areas, flooding over the plants' roots. The water then drains back to the reservoir. The cycle repeats continuously, hence their name.

At Netafim we deliver Ebb n Flood systems on a specialized concrete floor, specially designed covers or on tray-tables – each option is designed to allow water to flood and drain efficiently and precisely without any loss.

A BREAKTHROUGH IN EBB N FLOOD 2.0

Netafim is proud to present a leading breakthrough in greenhouse irrigation systems, currently being pioneered in highly sophisticated cannabis greenhouse projects. A unique combination of Ebb n Flood together with Netafim Drip Irrigation is leading to revolutionary results in crop quality and control over plant nutrition.

Questions our greenhouse project managers are often asked

There are two useful ways to monitor irrigation and fertilization.

Drainage: Drainage helps to make sure that you irrigate the right volume and that you don’t accumulate salt in your substrate, which could harm your plants. Carrying out chemical analysis of both drainage water and irrigation water at least once every two weeks will help to expose an unbalanced process.

Soil moisture sensors: These will help you to continually monitor water content in your substrate. Once you're familiar with your crop and substrate, you can adjust irrigation and fertilization schedules for optimum yield.
Irrigation of soilless media is done through short irrigation pulses. CNL drippers help you increase fertigation uniformity by preventing system drainage and thus eliminating the refilling time of the system. That means all the drippers start and stop at the same time every irrigation cycle, guaranteeing equal quantities of water and fertilizers to all plants.
Getting the right EC, pH and nutrient levels in your root zone makes for much faster-growing and high yielding crops. This is especially true when growing in soilless media, since the growing medium has low buffer capabilities and demands a fast, precise reaction.

A precision drip system can often help in delivering the right nutrient level to your plants. It allows you to keep all parameters exactly where you need them and to react to changes on demand.
Pulse irrigation is an approach that uses frequent irrigations with short durations. The objective is to match the application rate of the irrigation system with the absorption rates of the substrate, so no water or nutrients are wasted. This is done by applying the water in cycles of short duration irrigation, followed by a rest period. That rest lets the substrate absorb the water before more is added.

READY TO GROW?

Learn how we can help design and deliver your next greenhouse project.

What are you looking for?

GREENHOUSE WATER SYSTEMS

Greenhouse water systems from the people who invented them

Finding the right greenhouse irrigation system for your project:

PCJ drippers: the world’s most precise drip solution

Feeding your plants precisely what they need

NETAJET 4G™

NETAFLEX™ 3G

PCJ ONLINE

READY TO GROW?

Saving water through disinfection

Reverse osmosis systems

Hydroponic greenhouse systems

NFT Systems

Ebb n Flood System

A BREAKTHROUGH IN EBB N FLOOD 2.0

Questions our greenhouse project managers are often asked

What is the best way to monitor my irrigation and fertilization?

What are the benefits of Compensated Non-Leakage (CNL) drippers?

How do the EC and pH affect my greenhouse tomatoes?

What is pulse irrigation and why is it so common in substrate cultivation?

READY TO GROW?