Under the current situation of water shortage, water-saving irrigation is the focus of global attention. Many years ago, experts put forward the slogan of "water-saving gardens", suggesting that modern water-saving irrigation should be used to replace the traditional water pipe irrigation, pipe-directed water spraying and manual spraying. At the time when the "Flower Gardening and Efficient Management of Water and Fertilizer Forum" was about to be held in Shanghai, my colleagues and I had a special exchange with a few people in the industry, and referred to relevant journal literature, focusing on water-saving irrigation technology in flowers and plants. The application advantages and existing problems of the industry are discussed in the following shallow discussion.

The advantages of water-saving irrigation are reflected in:

1. Water saving. At present, most flower companies still use artificial water pipes for watering. This method not only has uneven watering but also has the problem of wasting a lot of water. If plug-in, drip irrigation, and small-pipe outflow methods are adopted, the uniformity of irrigation can be improved, and water can be saved by 50-70% compared with manual irrigation.

2. Save labor. The maximum labor saving can reach more than 90%. Nowadays, labor costs continue to rise, and it is not easy to hire workers. If water-saving irrigation is adopted, manual labor can be saved to the greatest extent and the efficiency of manual use can be improved. If combined with automatic controllers or programmable controllers, frequency converters, manpower input can be greatly reduced.

3. The planting structure can be changed. Roof greening and three-dimensional flower beds are increasingly used in practice, and are no longer limited to the ground surface. As early as 1993, Beijing has begun to use the combination of micro-irrigation and drip irrigation to promote three-dimensional greening, with remarkable results.

4. Integrated construction of water and fertilizer. The coupling of water and fertilizer is a hot spot in irrigation at present. While irrigating, according to the needs of different growth periods of flowers, fertilization and spraying are carried out simultaneously.

5. Improve the small environment. For flowers that cannot tolerate high humidity environments, drip irrigation can be used. For flowers that like high humidity, micro-spraying can be used. Sprinkler irrigation can also play a role in cooling down the local environment of plants.

The current problems in the application of water-saving irrigation technology by flower companies include the following aspects:

1. Insufficient understanding of irrigation products. There will be some investment in the early stage of water-saving irrigation, and maintenance is needed in the later stage, which creates a barrier for flower enterprises. For example, the flow channel of the dripper is very fine, and the water quality is very high, so it needs to be equipped with a filter system during construction. In fact, as long as the design is proper, the investment in the filtration system will not be very high, and timely maintenance can extend the service life of the filtration system, which can completely make up for the labor and water costs of non-water-saving irrigation methods. It is said that the self-pressure drip-arrow drip irrigation system requires an investment of about 2,000 yuan/mu, the micro-sprinkler irrigation system requires an investment of about 1,000 yuan/mu, and the artificial point irrigation system only requires an investment of about 300 yuan/mu. The cost is not very high, but the later benefit is great.

2. The characteristics of crops are not well integrated in the formulation of irrigation schedules and water management. The flower varieties cultivated by flower enterprises may be single or diverse. Irrigation systems should be formulated according to the water and fertilizer requirements of different plants in different growth periods. It is not scientific to blindly pursue water saving. For example, in the potted flowers in Guangzhou, the flower varieties that use the drip-arrow micro-irrigation equipment are mainly products with higher commodity value and longer production cycles; usually there are poinsettia, anthurium, pineapple, pitcher plant, phalaenopsis, national orchid, etc. The growth cycle of these flowers is from May to October, or even longer, and 1-3 watering is necessary every day during the growth cycle. If water-saving irrigation can save labor, the quality and regularity of flowers will be improved, and economic benefits will be increased.

For potted flowers with a short production cycle, such as impatiens, cockscomb, chrysanthemum, etc., the commodity value of these flowers is low, and the production management is relatively extensive. If the drip-arrow micro-irrigation equipment is used, it is easy to cause high production input and output. Low, frequent installation and disassembly of the drip part will damage the equipment, affect the normal operation of the equipment and shorten the service life; therefore, potted flowers with a shorter production cycle are less likely to use drip irrigation equipment. For example, in a flower base in Shunyi, Beijing, most of the plants planted are grass flowers and perennial root flowers, all of which are planted in separate pots. The installation workload of drip arrows is large, and the pots cannot be thinned, and the micro-spraying is not wind-resistant, and the flow of the buried nozzle is too large to be effective Water is also wasted, so micro-spraying, dripping arrows or buried sprinklers are not suitable.

3. The application of multiple disciplines requires talents in various fields. The talent pool of flower enterprises is relatively short, especially for water-saving irrigation talents. Especially in the application of automatic control irrigation equipment, special talents are needed to manage it.

Irrigation equipment production and construction companies also have some shortcomings. First of all, the quality of domestic irrigation products needs to be further improved, and more innovative talents and scientific research institutions are needed to conduct product research and development and create independent brands in accordance with my country's market needs. In the later stage, the product quality supervision system will be strengthened so that the relevant requirements can be met before the products leave the factory. Improve customer service and teach customers the correct use and maintenance of products and equipment on the terminal. The construction company should review the current situation, match different irrigation equipment with different flower varieties, establish a long-term information exchange mechanism with the irrigation equipment manufacturer, and timely feedback the problems encountered during the construction to the manufacturer, and the manufacturer will update the product performance and parameters according to actual needs. to satisfy the market's needs.