Dwarf Fortress Wiki - User contributions [en]

40d Talk:Irrigation

2008-08-14T21:55:13Z

Daxx:

Irrigation is not always needed for farming. i have my plot inside on sandy clay loam and it works fine. But: would the harvest maybe be better/faster with water? will check out. --[[User:Koltom|Koltom]] 14:20, 10 February 2008 (EST)
: Made a few changes to clarify.--[[User:Koltom|Koltom]] 14:36, 10 February 2008 (EST)
:Irrigation is only needed to be able to farm on rock. Soil layers don't need irrigation before you can farm on them. --[[User:Eagle of Fire|Eagle of Fire]] 15:04, 10 February 2008 (EST)
The current version says you can "effectively" water an area 7x the size of the reservoir, but that doesn't seem to take into account the water that remains in the reservoir once the floodgate's opened which can lead to spots getting missed and people who're anal about this sort of stuff getting annoyed - maybe a 6x/5x figure should be used instead so we can get a depth average of 1.4-ish? --[[User:Sorenson|Sorenson]] 11 March 2008 (EST)

The article indicates that "some natural ponds replenish themselves at the beginning of spring." My research indicates that this is the result of water thawing. Any amount of water (x/7) becomes ice during winter (assuming your climate is cold enough). When melting, it becomes 7/7 deep water. [[User:Ripheus|Ripheus]] 02:57, 6 April 2008 (EDT)

Consequently... after irrigating land, is the muddied land subject to evaporation post-planting?
[[User:Okita|Okita]] 03:28, 17 June 2008 (EDT)

I've tidied up the article a lot, and made it much more newbie friendly (thanks also to Brandonazz), but I'm still a bit of a newbie myself so if I've made any factual errors I apologise. Hopefully it should be a lot easier to follow for those new to the game. --[[User:Daxx|Daxx]] 17:55, 14 August 2008 (EDT)

40d:Irrigation

2008-08-14T21:45:08Z

Daxx: /* Easy irrigation */

Irrigation is the process of making rocky ground suitable for [[farming]]. This is usually done by flooding it with [[water]]. Inside caves, [[rock]] cavern floor tiles that are covered with water instantly become muddy tiles, which you can then build farm plots on. There are many possible methods for getting the farm area muddy.

Dwarf Fortress uses realistic water dynamics, including measures of [[water depth]]. A depth of 7 is full, depths of 1 will evaporate, leaving the stone wet and thus suitable for farming. Your goal in irrigation is to get a section of ground to be 1/7s.

== Dryland farming: farming without irrigation ==

Some locations have layers of [[soil]] a few z-levels thick. It is not necessary to irrigate [[soil]] in order to grow crops on it; it is possible to build a farm plot directly on any soil tiles, although the dwarven crops such as [[plump helmet]]s can only be grown in a [[subterranean]] plot. In lowland areas, a farm plot built on any tile marked [[Outside]] can be used to grow outdoor crops such as [[prickle berry|prickle berries]]. This method obviates the need for irrigation entirely, so is recommended for newbies.

== Easy irrigation ==

# {{K|d}}ig from the [[farm plot]] to any source of water, but keep a single tile of [[wall]] between the newbuilt passage and the water.
# Dig a passage from the plot towards lower ground or a pit, to serve as a water drain ''(this stage is not 100% necessary, but means you don't have to worry about having too much water and so is recommended)''.
# Build a [[floodgate]], and three [[mechanism]]s.
# Place the floodgate in the passage. The idea is that it'll block the water from coming through when it's closed.
# Build a [[lever]] and link it to the floodgate.
# If you are building a drain, follow steps 3-5 again and place the second floodgate at the entrance to the drainage channel, linked to the second lever.
# {{K|P}}ull the first lever so the gate opens.
# Send a miner to dig that last wall keeping the water from rushing in.
#: Alternatively, have the miner dig a [[channel]] ({{K|d}},{{K|h}}) on that last wall from the Z-level above. This is much safer, since the miner will dig out the wall without actually having to stand in the way of the water.
# Use the first lever to close the channel once you've got enough water to spread over the area. If you have a drain, you can now let any excess drain off using your second lever.
# The water should now cover (or have covered) 1/7 of each tile.
# Wait for the water to evaporate and/or drain off (Dwarves can built farm plots in 1/7 water, so you don't need to wait).
# Enjoy your newly irrigated land.

== Reservoir irrigation ==

The reservoir method involves building a small reservoir between two [[floodgate|floodgates]] and a farming chamber about 7 times as large as the reservoir. A reservoir of 12 tiles, for instance, can water a 70 tile chamber effectively. Water is let into the reservoir by lowering, then raising one floodgate. The other floodgate then releases the water into the farming chamber. It spreads around, then evaporates after becoming 1 deep.

The reservoir may be built above the plot to be irrigated with a [[hatch]] or bridge in the floor, to one side using floodgates, or below and [[pump]]ed upwards. Note that [[Bridge|bridges]], in their default state, will block water from falling between levels. The large surface area you can get this way can make the water spread over your farm area much faster than by using floodgates.

It is possible to achieve the same result using a natural pond as the water reservoir. Doing so is easier in the short term but it is not advised if you want to keep replenishing your reservoir for other uses, such as [[well]](s), for natural ponds have a very finite amount of water available. On particular maps, natural ponds can replenish themselves at the beginning of each spring.

=== Worked Example ===

To create this irrigation system, you need: [[Image:Tree_farm.png|right]] 

* A large growing room.
:*The large room can be any size. (For this example, we will use a 24 by 24 size room.)
* An adjacent smaller filling room that will be filled with exactly the right amount of water.
:*To calculate the size of this room, see below.
* A water supply line such as a tube leading to a water source.
* Lever-controlled doors or floodgates connecting the large room to the smaller one, and the smaller one to the water supply. Doors are preferred as you don't need levers for your dwarf to pass.

'''Calculating Room Size'''

There are 576 (24²) floor tiles in the large room (L). The small room (S) must hold enough water to cover the large room, the small room, and the space occupied by the door in between with 1 unit of water. Each tile of the small room can hold 7 units of water, so:

S = (L + S + 1) / 7

-or-

S = (L + 1) / 6

577/6 = 96 1/6; rounding up, this gives 97. This is the number of floor tiles in the smaller room: a 9X10 room with 7 extra tiles. Be aware, however, that if you make your "large" room ''too'' large, some of the water from the "small" room will [[evaporate]] before reaching the other end, and you will not have enough [[water]] to coat the floor. This behavior was observed in a room of 42X35 tiles.

Now, get digging. The water supply connects to the smaller filling room by a 1-tile hole where a door or [[floodgate]] will go. The filling room connects to the growing room the same way, and the growing room needs a door too. Remember to have the [[door|doors]] in place before breaching the water source and flooding the water supply line!

When you do breach the water source, immediately forbid the first door your miner runs through (see, this is why we use doors), which should be the door closest to the water source. Don't bother forbidding the other two. Link all three doors to three separate [[lever|levers]] and test the system. Close the door between the filling chamber and main farm area and open the door that leads to the water source. When the filling chamber is full, close the door to the water source, close the door leading to the farm, and open the door between the [[farm]] and filling chamber. The water should spread out and coat the entire farm in a thin layer of water. At this time, plant your farms and begin the wait until they yield products.

== Pond irrigation ==

Dig a farm room, and dig a channel one Z-level above it, creating a hole down into the farm room. Create a [[zone]] on the hole, and make it a pond. Your dwarves will attempt to fill it with water carried in buckets. As they dump water in, it will muddy the farm room floor. After it has been sufficiently muddied, disable or remove the pond zone until you need to irrigate it again. Dwarves can build farm plots in 1 unit deep water.

NOTE: Even though it works, this is probably the slowest way to irrigate a room since dwarves only carry 1 unit of water per trip. Especially if you don't have a more than one or two idle dwarves and buckets, or if the water source is far away. It also probably wouldn't work very well on larger farm areas.

NOTE: Digging a channel from the surface will mark the tile below Outside. This means that cave plants will not grow there.

== Wave irrigation ==

Although seawater is unfit for carrying to your farm in a bucket, areas muddied by seawater seem to be farmable. My favorite method of achieving this is building a farm room under a beach and making a hole in its roof, closable with a hatch, to let waves in.

[[Category:Agriculture]]

40d:Irrigation

2008-08-14T21:39:22Z

Daxx: /* Easy irrigation */

Irrigation is the process of making rocky ground suitable for [[farming]]. This is usually done by flooding it with [[water]]. Inside caves, [[rock]] cavern floor tiles that are covered with water instantly become muddy tiles, which you can then build farm plots on. There are many possible methods for getting the farm area muddy.

Dwarf Fortress uses realistic water dynamics, including measures of [[water depth]]. A depth of 7 is full, depths of 1 will evaporate, leaving the stone wet and thus suitable for farming. Your goal in irrigation is to get a section of ground to be 1/7s.

== Dryland farming: farming without irrigation ==

Some locations have layers of [[soil]] a few z-levels thick. It is not necessary to irrigate [[soil]] in order to grow crops on it; it is possible to build a farm plot directly on any soil tiles, although the dwarven crops such as [[plump helmet]]s can only be grown in a [[subterranean]] plot. In lowland areas, a farm plot built on any tile marked [[Outside]] can be used to grow outdoor crops such as [[prickle berry|prickle berries]]. This method obviates the need for irrigation entirely, so is recommended for newbies.

== Easy irrigation ==

# [[Dig]] from the [[farm plot]] to any source of water, but keep a single tile of [[wall]] between the newbuilt passage and the water.
# Dig a passage from the plot towards lower ground or a pit, to serve as a water drain ''(this stage is not 100% necessary, but means you don't have to worry about having too much water and so is recommended)''.
# Build a [[floodgate]], and three [[mechanism]]s.
# Place the door in the channel. The idea is that it'll block the water from coming through when closed.
# Build a [[lever]] and link it to the floodgate.
# If you are building a drain, follow steps 3-5 again and place the second floodgate at the entrance to the drainage channel.
# Pull the first lever so the gate opens.
# Send a miner to dig that last wall keeping the water from rushing in.
#: Alternatively, have the miner dig a [[channel]] on the last wall from the Z-level above. This is much safer, since the miner will dig out the wall without actually having to stand in the way of the water.
# Use the first lever to close the channel once you've got enough water to spread over the area. If you have a drain, you can now let any excess drain off using your second lever.
# The water should now cover (or have covered) 1/7 of each tile.
# Wait for the water to evaporate and/or drain off (Dwarves can built farm plots in 1/7 water, so you don't need to wait).
# Enjoy your newly irrigated land.

== Reservoir irrigation ==

The reservoir method involves building a small reservoir between two [[floodgate|floodgates]] and a farming chamber about 7 times as large as the reservoir. A reservoir of 12 tiles, for instance, can water a 70 tile chamber effectively. Water is let into the reservoir by lowering, then raising one floodgate. The other floodgate then releases the water into the farming chamber. It spreads around, then evaporates after becoming 1 deep.

The reservoir may be built above the plot to be irrigated with a [[hatch]] or bridge in the floor, to one side using floodgates, or below and [[pump]]ed upwards. Note that [[Bridge|bridges]], in their default state, will block water from falling between levels. The large surface area you can get this way can make the water spread over your farm area much faster than by using floodgates.

It is possible to achieve the same result using a natural pond as the water reservoir. Doing so is easier in the short term but it is not advised if you want to keep replenishing your reservoir for other uses, such as [[well]](s), for natural ponds have a very finite amount of water available. On particular maps, natural ponds can replenish themselves at the beginning of each spring.

=== Worked Example ===

To create this irrigation system, you need: [[Image:Tree_farm.png|right]] 

* A large growing room.
:*The large room can be any size. (For this example, we will use a 24 by 24 size room.)
* An adjacent smaller filling room that will be filled with exactly the right amount of water.
:*To calculate the size of this room, see below.
* A water supply line such as a tube leading to a water source.
* Lever-controlled doors or floodgates connecting the large room to the smaller one, and the smaller one to the water supply. Doors are preferred as you don't need levers for your dwarf to pass.

'''Calculating Room Size'''

There are 576 (24²) floor tiles in the large room (L). The small room (S) must hold enough water to cover the large room, the small room, and the space occupied by the door in between with 1 unit of water. Each tile of the small room can hold 7 units of water, so:

S = (L + S + 1) / 7

-or-

S = (L + 1) / 6

577/6 = 96 1/6; rounding up, this gives 97. This is the number of floor tiles in the smaller room: a 9X10 room with 7 extra tiles. Be aware, however, that if you make your "large" room ''too'' large, some of the water from the "small" room will [[evaporate]] before reaching the other end, and you will not have enough [[water]] to coat the floor. This behavior was observed in a room of 42X35 tiles.

Now, get digging. The water supply connects to the smaller filling room by a 1-tile hole where a door or [[floodgate]] will go. The filling room connects to the growing room the same way, and the growing room needs a door too. Remember to have the [[door|doors]] in place before breaching the water source and flooding the water supply line!

When you do breach the water source, immediately forbid the first door your miner runs through (see, this is why we use doors), which should be the door closest to the water source. Don't bother forbidding the other two. Link all three doors to three separate [[lever|levers]] and test the system. Close the door between the filling chamber and main farm area and open the door that leads to the water source. When the filling chamber is full, close the door to the water source, close the door leading to the farm, and open the door between the [[farm]] and filling chamber. The water should spread out and coat the entire farm in a thin layer of water. At this time, plant your farms and begin the wait until they yield products.

== Pond irrigation ==

Dig a farm room, and dig a channel one Z-level above it, creating a hole down into the farm room. Create a [[zone]] on the hole, and make it a pond. Your dwarves will attempt to fill it with water carried in buckets. As they dump water in, it will muddy the farm room floor. After it has been sufficiently muddied, disable or remove the pond zone until you need to irrigate it again. Dwarves can build farm plots in 1 unit deep water.

NOTE: Even though it works, this is probably the slowest way to irrigate a room since dwarves only carry 1 unit of water per trip. Especially if you don't have a more than one or two idle dwarves and buckets, or if the water source is far away. It also probably wouldn't work very well on larger farm areas.

NOTE: Digging a channel from the surface will mark the tile below Outside. This means that cave plants will not grow there.

== Wave irrigation ==

Although seawater is unfit for carrying to your farm in a bucket, areas muddied by seawater seem to be farmable. My favorite method of achieving this is building a farm room under a beach and making a hole in its roof, closable with a hatch, to let waves in.

[[Category:Agriculture]]

40d:Irrigation

2008-08-14T21:34:37Z

Daxx: /* Reservoir irrigation */

Irrigation is the process of making rocky ground suitable for [[farming]]. This is usually done by flooding it with [[water]]. Inside caves, [[rock]] cavern floor tiles that are covered with water instantly become muddy tiles, which you can then build farm plots on. There are many possible methods for getting the farm area muddy.

Dwarf Fortress uses realistic water dynamics, including measures of [[water depth]]. A depth of 7 is full, depths of 1 will evaporate, leaving the stone wet and thus suitable for farming. Your goal in irrigation is to get a section of ground to be 1/7s.

== Dryland farming: farming without irrigation ==

Some locations have layers of [[soil]] a few z-levels thick. It is not necessary to irrigate [[soil]] in order to grow crops on it; it is possible to build a farm plot directly on any soil tiles, although the dwarven crops such as [[plump helmet]]s can only be grown in a [[subterranean]] plot. In lowland areas, a farm plot built on any tile marked [[Outside]] can be used to grow outdoor crops such as [[prickle berry|prickle berries]]. This method obviates the need for irrigation entirely, so is recommended for newbies.

== Easy irrigation ==

# [[Dig]] from the [[farm plot]] to any source of water, but keep a single tile of [[wall]] between the newbuilt [[channel]] and the water.
# Dig a passage from the plot towards lower ground or a pit, to serve as a water drain ''(this stage is not 100% necessary, but means you don't have to worry about having too much water and so is recommended)''.
# Build a [[floodgate]], and three [[mechanism]]s.
# Place the door in the channel. The idea is that it'll block the water from coming through when closed.
# Build a [[lever]] and link it to the floodgate.
# If you are building a drain, follow steps 3-5 again and place the second floodgate at the entrance to the drainage channel.
# Pull the first lever so the gate opens.
# Send a miner to dig that last wall keeping the water from rushing in.
#: Alternatively, have the miner dig a channel on the last wall from the Z-level above. This is much safer, since the miner will dig out the wall without actually having to stand in the way of the water.
# Use the first lever to close the channel once you've got enough water to spread over the area. If you have a drain, you can now let any excess drain off using your second lever.
# The water should now cover (or have covered) 1/7 of each tile.
# Wait for the water to evaporate and/or drain off (Dwarves can built farm plots in 1/7 water, so you don't need to wait).
# Enjoy your newly irrigated land.

== Reservoir irrigation ==

The reservoir method involves building a small reservoir between two [[floodgate|floodgates]] and a farming chamber about 7 times as large as the reservoir. A reservoir of 12 tiles, for instance, can water a 70 tile chamber effectively. Water is let into the reservoir by lowering, then raising one floodgate. The other floodgate then releases the water into the farming chamber. It spreads around, then evaporates after becoming 1 deep.

The reservoir may be built above the plot to be irrigated with a [[hatch]] or bridge in the floor, to one side using floodgates, or below and [[pump]]ed upwards. Note that [[Bridge|bridges]], in their default state, will block water from falling between levels. The large surface area you can get this way can make the water spread over your farm area much faster than by using floodgates.

It is possible to achieve the same result using a natural pond as the water reservoir. Doing so is easier in the short term but it is not advised if you want to keep replenishing your reservoir for other uses, such as [[well]](s), for natural ponds have a very finite amount of water available. On particular maps, natural ponds can replenish themselves at the beginning of each spring.

=== Worked Example ===

To create this irrigation system, you need: [[Image:Tree_farm.png|right]] 

* A large growing room.
:*The large room can be any size. (For this example, we will use a 24 by 24 size room.)
* An adjacent smaller filling room that will be filled with exactly the right amount of water.
:*To calculate the size of this room, see below.
* A water supply line such as a tube leading to a water source.
* Lever-controlled doors or floodgates connecting the large room to the smaller one, and the smaller one to the water supply. Doors are preferred as you don't need levers for your dwarf to pass.

'''Calculating Room Size'''

There are 576 (24²) floor tiles in the large room (L). The small room (S) must hold enough water to cover the large room, the small room, and the space occupied by the door in between with 1 unit of water. Each tile of the small room can hold 7 units of water, so:

S = (L + S + 1) / 7

-or-

S = (L + 1) / 6

577/6 = 96 1/6; rounding up, this gives 97. This is the number of floor tiles in the smaller room: a 9X10 room with 7 extra tiles. Be aware, however, that if you make your "large" room ''too'' large, some of the water from the "small" room will [[evaporate]] before reaching the other end, and you will not have enough [[water]] to coat the floor. This behavior was observed in a room of 42X35 tiles.

Now, get digging. The water supply connects to the smaller filling room by a 1-tile hole where a door or [[floodgate]] will go. The filling room connects to the growing room the same way, and the growing room needs a door too. Remember to have the [[door|doors]] in place before breaching the water source and flooding the water supply line!

When you do breach the water source, immediately forbid the first door your miner runs through (see, this is why we use doors), which should be the door closest to the water source. Don't bother forbidding the other two. Link all three doors to three separate [[lever|levers]] and test the system. Close the door between the filling chamber and main farm area and open the door that leads to the water source. When the filling chamber is full, close the door to the water source, close the door leading to the farm, and open the door between the [[farm]] and filling chamber. The water should spread out and coat the entire farm in a thin layer of water. At this time, plant your farms and begin the wait until they yield products.

== Pond irrigation ==

Dig a farm room, and dig a channel one Z-level above it, creating a hole down into the farm room. Create a [[zone]] on the hole, and make it a pond. Your dwarves will attempt to fill it with water carried in buckets. As they dump water in, it will muddy the farm room floor. After it has been sufficiently muddied, disable or remove the pond zone until you need to irrigate it again. Dwarves can build farm plots in 1 unit deep water.

NOTE: Even though it works, this is probably the slowest way to irrigate a room since dwarves only carry 1 unit of water per trip. Especially if you don't have a more than one or two idle dwarves and buckets, or if the water source is far away. It also probably wouldn't work very well on larger farm areas.

NOTE: Digging a channel from the surface will mark the tile below Outside. This means that cave plants will not grow there.

== Wave irrigation ==

Although seawater is unfit for carrying to your farm in a bucket, areas muddied by seawater seem to be farmable. My favorite method of achieving this is building a farm room under a beach and making a hole in its roof, closable with a hatch, to let waves in.

[[Category:Agriculture]]

40d:Irrigation

2008-08-14T21:31:25Z

Daxx: reworked page to be more newbie friendly

Irrigation is the process of making rocky ground suitable for [[farming]]. This is usually done by flooding it with [[water]]. Inside caves, [[rock]] cavern floor tiles that are covered with water instantly become muddy tiles, which you can then build farm plots on. There are many possible methods for getting the farm area muddy.

Dwarf Fortress uses realistic water dynamics, including measures of [[water depth]]. A depth of 7 is full, depths of 1 will evaporate, leaving the stone wet and thus suitable for farming. Your goal in irrigation is to get a section of ground to be 1/7s.

== Dryland farming: farming without irrigation ==

Some locations have layers of [[soil]] a few z-levels thick. It is not necessary to irrigate [[soil]] in order to grow crops on it; it is possible to build a farm plot directly on any soil tiles, although the dwarven crops such as [[plump helmet]]s can only be grown in a [[subterranean]] plot. In lowland areas, a farm plot built on any tile marked [[Outside]] can be used to grow outdoor crops such as [[prickle berry|prickle berries]]. This method obviates the need for irrigation entirely, so is recommended for newbies.

== Easy irrigation ==

# [[Dig]] from the [[farm plot]] to any source of water, but keep a single tile of [[wall]] between the newbuilt [[channel]] and the water.
# Dig a passage from the plot towards lower ground or a pit, to serve as a water drain ''(this stage is not 100% necessary, but means you don't have to worry about having too much water and so is recommended)''.
# Build a [[floodgate]], and three [[mechanism]]s.
# Place the door in the channel. The idea is that it'll block the water from coming through when closed.
# Build a [[lever]] and link it to the floodgate.
# If you are building a drain, follow steps 3-5 again and place the second floodgate at the entrance to the drainage channel.
# Pull the first lever so the gate opens.
# Send a miner to dig that last wall keeping the water from rushing in.
#: Alternatively, have the miner dig a channel on the last wall from the Z-level above. This is much safer, since the miner will dig out the wall without actually having to stand in the way of the water.
# Use the first lever to close the channel once you've got enough water to spread over the area. If you have a drain, you can now let any excess drain off using your second lever.
# The water should now cover (or have covered) 1/7 of each tile.
# Wait for the water to evaporate and/or drain off (Dwarves can built farm plots in 1/7 water, so you don't need to wait).
# Enjoy your newly irrigated land.

== Reservoir irrigation ==

The reservoir method involves building a small reservoir between two [[floodgate|floodgates]] and a farming chamber about 7 times as large as the reservoir. A reservoir of 12 tiles, for instance, can water a 70 tile chamber effectively. Water is let into the reservoir by lowering, then raising one floodgate. The other floodgate then releases the water into the farming chamber. It spreads around, then evaporates after becoming 1 deep.

The reservoir may be built above the plot to be irrigated with a [[hatch]] or bridge in the floor, to one side using floodgates, or below and pumped upwards. Note that [[Bridge|bridges]], in their default state, will block water from falling between levels. The large surface area you can get this way can make the water spread over your farm area much faster than by using floodgates.

It is possible to achieve the same result using a natural pond as the water reservoir. Doing so is easier in the short term but it is not advised if you want to keep replenishing your reservoir for other uses, such as [[well]](s), for natural ponds have a very finite amount of water available. On particular maps, natural ponds can replenish themselves at the beginning of each spring.

=== Worked Example ===

To create this irrigation system, you need: [[Image:Tree_farm.png|right]] 

* A large growing room.
:*The large room can be any size. (For this example, we will use a 24 by 24 size room.)
* An adjacent smaller filling room that will be filled with exactly the right amount of water.
:*To calculate the size of this room, see below.
* A water supply line such as a tube leading to a water source.
* Lever-controlled doors or floodgates connecting the large room to the smaller one, and the smaller one to the water supply. Doors are preferred as you don't need levers for your dwarf to pass.

'''Calculating Room Size'''

There are 576 (24²) floor tiles in the large room (L). The small room (S) must hold enough water to cover the large room, the small room, and the space occupied by the door in between with 1 unit of water. Each tile of the small room can hold 7 units of water, so:

S = (L + S + 1) / 7

-or-

S = (L + 1) / 6

577/6 = 96 1/6; rounding up, this gives 97. This is the number of floor tiles in the smaller room: a 9X10 room with 7 extra tiles. Be aware, however, that if you make your "large" room ''too'' large, some of the water from the "small" room will [[evaporate]] before reaching the other end, and you will not have enough [[water]] to coat the floor. This behavior was observed in a room of 42X35 tiles.

Now, get digging. The water supply connects to the smaller filling room by a 1-tile hole where a door or [[floodgate]] will go. The filling room connects to the growing room the same way, and the growing room needs a door too. Remember to have the [[door|doors]] in place before breaching the water source and flooding the water supply line!

When you do breach the water source, immediately forbid the first door your miner runs through (see, this is why we use doors), which should be the door closest to the water source. Don't bother forbidding the other two. Link all three doors to three separate [[lever|levers]] and test the system. Close the door between the filling chamber and main farm area and open the door that leads to the water source. When the filling chamber is full, close the door to the water source, close the door leading to the farm, and open the door between the [[farm]] and filling chamber. The water should spread out and coat the entire farm in a thin layer of water. At this time, plant your farms and begin the wait until they yield products.

== Pond irrigation ==

Dig a farm room, and dig a channel one Z-level above it, creating a hole down into the farm room. Create a [[zone]] on the hole, and make it a pond. Your dwarves will attempt to fill it with water carried in buckets. As they dump water in, it will muddy the farm room floor. After it has been sufficiently muddied, disable or remove the pond zone until you need to irrigate it again. Dwarves can build farm plots in 1 unit deep water.

NOTE: Even though it works, this is probably the slowest way to irrigate a room since dwarves only carry 1 unit of water per trip. Especially if you don't have a more than one or two idle dwarves and buckets, or if the water source is far away. It also probably wouldn't work very well on larger farm areas.

NOTE: Digging a channel from the surface will mark the tile below Outside. This means that cave plants will not grow there.

== Wave irrigation ==

Although seawater is unfit for carrying to your farm in a bucket, areas muddied by seawater seem to be farmable. My favorite method of achieving this is building a farm room under a beach and making a hole in its roof, closable with a hatch, to let waves in.

[[Category:Agriculture]]