Soil, water and the mother block

What about the Mother blocks?


The mother block will be 10 meters long, 12 meters wide and 1.5 meters deep. The mother block will be approximately 0.5 meters from the ground. Stairs will be provided on the mother block for easy access and a platform will also be built, to ensure the safety of the workers.

The tomatoes will be planted 60 cm apart whilst the basil 20 cm apart and the row with will 45 cm apart. The garlic will be planted 16 cm apart. There will four rows of tomatoes, with each row containing 16 plants. The basil section will consists of 8 rows with each row containing 50 basil plants. 25 rows of garlic will be planted and the rows will contain 62 garlic plants. All of these values are projected, and not 100% correct. You can adapt to what suits you the best.

Irrigation


The mother block will make use of drip irrigation. Drip irrigation is the most sufficient way of giving water to the plants. Nutrients and fertilizer can also be given through the drip irrigation. Steel rods will be attached to each of the dripper lines to insure that they do not move or fall into the soil during irrigation. There will be one dripper line for every two rows of plants. The irrigation will be given in short intervals, to eliminate the effect of leaching. Drainage will also be installed in the mother block, and excess water will be gathered and recycled for other uses. PVC sub surface slotted pipes will be used in this mother block. It is an easy drainage system where grooves are made and gravel is placed on the bottom. PVC pipes, with holes, are then placed in the grooves and covered with gravel. The excess water will flow to the pipes because of the water potential gradient.



Tensiometers, a apparatus that is used to determine the moisture content of the soil, will be placed at different depths in the mother block to insure the block is at the right wetness level.

Tensiometer
photo source: start farming 


Soil type and preparation


All of the above mentioned plants prefer the same type of soil, at the same pH level. A loamy soil with a pH of about 6.5. The loamy soil should contain about 20 – 25% clay, 50 – 60% sand and 70 – 80% silt. This will ensure the soil will have a good water holding capacity and will help with the saving of water. The plants will also find the soil sturdy and easy to grow in.



Minimum tillage will be implemented on the mother block. Minimum tillage is working the soil as less as possible, without disturbing the deeper layers of the soil. When deeper soil layers are not disturbed, water movement will be improved and preferential flow paths will be eliminated. Compaction is also completely eliminated. Organic material will be regularly added to the mother block to ensure a good organic content percentage. Chicken manure (or any other manure) will be added at the beginning, before any of the mother plants is planted. To ensure the loss of water, mulching will be implemented in the form of bark. Mulching can cause the breeding of diseases, but the mulch and the soil will be closely monitored.


For an overview of the workings of a drip irrigation system, you can watch this video: 







John-Murray Visser

19281382


Reference list:

www.thekitchn.com
www.almanac.com
www.nda.agric.za/brachures/proguibasil
www.thespruce.com
www.starkayers.co.za
www.yara.us
www.hortmag.com

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