Greenhouse Water · Sizing

Greenhouse Irrigation Planner.

Size daily water demand, pump capacity, storage buffer and filtration category for a commercial greenhouse or hydroponic project.

Irrigation system design workflow
Water-demand and hydraulic calculations define the design duty, not the final equipment selection.
Quick answer · Summary for buyers and AI assistants

Greenhouse Irrigation Planner

Size daily water demand, pump capacity, storage buffer and filtration category for a commercial greenhouse or hydroponic project.

Estimate only — not a quotation. Outputs are indicative planning ranges based on the values you enter and typical commercial benchmarks. Real pricing, specifications and lead times vary by country, site conditions and supplier, and are confirmed only in written offers collected through a private RFQ.

ET 5.5 L/m2/day baseline

ET factor x1

Drives treatment scope and leaching fraction

Peak daily water demand
55 m3/day
Pump capacity (design)
9.6 m3/h @ 8h ops
Storage reservoir
275 m3 (5-day buffer)
Filtration & fertigation categories
  • Primary screen / disc filter <= 130 micron on delivery line.
  • Standard screen/disc filtration is sufficient; no desalination line required.
  • Fertigation head with EC/pH dosing and mixing tanks.

Turn this estimate into a qualified project

SeedMatchGroup is a supplier-neutral, human-led platform. We do not manufacture or resell equipment — we help buyers specify the project, review relevant suppliers privately and compare the written offers received. Supplier participation and timing are not guaranteed.

Turn this estimate into a project brief

Send these figures to the greenhouse RFQ form. Your inputs and results are attached to the brief, a sourcing specialist reviews it, and only then are suitable suppliers or project partners approached.

Buying more than once? Save these project details to your buyer profile so your site, crop, budget and timeline are pre-filled on every future request.

Indicative only. Not financial advice, not agronomic advice, not engineering design. Final numbers require supplier, agronomist, engineer and local regulatory review.

New to drip design? Read the what is drip irrigation guide for emitter spacing, filtration and fertigation fundamentals before sizing your system.

Frequently asked questions

Typical peak daily water demand ranges 3-7 L/m2/day depending on crop, climate, VPD and irrigation strategy. Recirculating fertigation systems can cut fresh-water demand 30-50% versus drain-to-waste.

Storage buffers between water source (well, mains, harvested rainwater) and peak irrigation demand, and covers outages. Commercial greenhouses target 3-7 days of reservoir buffer plus rain-harvesting tanks if the roof allows.

Drip and fertigation require <= 130 micron primary filtration (screen or disc) and often secondary sand or membrane for surface water. Hydroponic recirculation adds UV or ozone disinfection.

Turning this estimate into a request? The irrigation and fertigation request builder lists what changes a quote — system type, filtration, dosing and drain-water scope — and opens a pre-filled request that our team reviews before any supplier is contacted.

Understanding the values

What each choice in this calculator means, and how the options differ in practice.

Peak vs average demand
Hydraulic design follows peak daily demand. Sizing on averages leaves the crop short exactly when stress costs the most yield.
Efficiency assumptions
Emitter, filtration and distribution losses compound. A few points of efficiency at each step add up to a large difference at the pump.

Illustrative project summary

1 ha multi-span tomato house

A new commercial entrant builds a first multi-span block with fertigation, insect screens and a basic climate computer.

1 ha · Multi-span polyhouse · Tomatoes

Indicative full greenhouse project CAPEX

USD 575K – USD 1.56M

Illustration only, not a real project or quotation. This is the structure, equipment and site-works budget for the example greenhouse, not the price of this calculator’s individual system, seeds or inputs, and not a result calculated from your entries. Excludes land, permits, packhouse, financing costs and working capital.

Based on the published commercial greenhouse cost benchmark. Written offers require a private project review; commercial projects start from USD 250K.

What can change the result?

This is a preliminary planning estimate based on the values you entered. The variables below usually move the outcome most, and should be confirmed with an agronomist, engineer and supplier offers before final design.

  • Crop and cultivar — water, climate and support requirements differ per crop
  • Local climate: temperature, humidity, radiation and wind exposure
  • Irrigation design, emitter spacing and application efficiency
  • Water quality and treatment needs (EC, pH, iron, hardness, pathogens)

Questions this calculator answers

Typical buyer and investor searches this tool is built for, including the markets where we run the most commercial projects.

  • greenhouse water requirement and storage sizing per hectare for a commercial project
  • greenhouse water requirement and storage sizing for a 2-hectare project — India
  • greenhouse water requirement and storage sizing: indicative planning ranges — Kenya
  • greenhouse water requirement and storage sizing benchmarks for investors — Saudi Arabia
  • greenhouse water requirement and storage sizing under local market conditions — Mexico
  • greenhouse water requirement and storage sizing — what to specify in a supplier RFQ

Method and decision path

How to use this result in a commercial project

Use the result to test scope and compare scenarios. It is not a design, agronomic prescription, financing offer or supplier quotation.

  1. 1. Enter site evidence

    Replace defaults with measured area, climate, water, energy, crop and commercial assumptions.

  2. 2. Test scenarios

    Change one assumption at a time and record the effect on capacity, cost, demand or return.

  3. 3. Validate the duty

    Ask the relevant agronomist, engineer or financial adviser to check the inputs and constraints.

  4. 4. Prepare a private RFQ

    Carry the confirmed scope into a human-reviewed brief so written offers can be compared on the same basis.

Final specifications, performance, prices, supplier participation and timing depend on the site and written supplier responses; none is guaranteed by this calculator.

Turn this estimate into offers

Tell us five things and we route your brief

These fields decide which specialist and which suppliers see your request. Nothing is submitted here — your answers are carried into the private RFQ.

Continue to the RFQ BuilderPrivate brief — supplier identities and your details are never exposed.

The USD 250K project threshold applies to capital projects. Recurring fertilizer programmes are reviewed by shipment size, annual volume and sourcing fit.

Get matched with reviewed suppliers

A sourcing specialist shortlists reviewed providers for your scope and returns comparable offers. Supplier details stay with us — all communication runs through SeedMatchGroup.

Estimate only: these figures are indicative planning numbers, not a quotation. Final pricing, specifications and lead times come from supplier offers after your brief is reviewed.

Plan the project around the numbers

A calculator output is a starting point. Pair it with the planning guides below to align timeline, irrigation, budget and risk before you launch an RFQ.

A model output only holds if the scope, contract route and delivery terms match the assumptions. These reference answers cover the commercial decisions that move the figure.

Browse all procurement answers

Editorial · not a sales pitch

Calculator outputs are indicative. When your numbers stabilise, a supplier-neutral RFQ turns those estimates into a consistent brief for comparing the written offers that participating suppliers provide.

What to submit — Irrigation & fertigation

The facts a complete, supplier-neutral request on this topic includes. Use it as a checklist before submitting.

  • Irrigated area, block layout and topography/elevation change
  • Crop, spacing and peak daily water requirement (mm/day or m³/day)
  • Water source (borehole, canal, reservoir, municipal) with yield and analysis
  • System type: drip, sprinkler, pivot, micro-sprinkler, fertigation
  • Required flow (m³/h), pressure and number of zones/shifts
  • Power availability: grid, generator or solar pumping
  • Automation and control level required
Helpful attachments
  • Water analysis report and borehole test results
  • Field/plot map with dimensions and elevation
Where this goes next

Opens the RFQ Builder scoped as an irrigation package so suppliers quote hydraulics, filtration and dosing consistently. You stay in control — nothing is submitted until you review and confirm.

Free to submit · supplier-neutral · reviewed by a specialist before any supplier is contacted.

Running these numbers for a client project?

Agronomists, greenhouse and irrigation consultants use this calculator for feasibility, then hand the project to us for supplier shortlisting, RFQ preparation and quote comparison. You stay client-facing and we work through you.

Your client relationship stays with you — we work through you and never contact your client unless you ask.

Indicative only

  • This tool is indicative only.
  • It is not financial advice.
  • It is not agronomic advice.
  • It is not engineering design.
  • Final numbers require supplier, agronomist, engineer and local regulatory review.

SeedMatch Group is an independent agricultural project sourcing and RFQ platform. We are not a farm, seed producer, fertilizer manufacturer, irrigation manufacturer, greenhouse builder, EPC contractor, lender or financial advisor. Supplier and project partner outreach is handled only after a commercial project brief is reviewed.

Supplier and manufacturer content is provided for research, transparency and discovery only. Buyers submit one project or RFQ to SeedMatch Group; our team validates and organises it, manages any suitable supplier or manufacturer outreach, and presents the responses through SeedMatch. There is no public directory of company identities, automatic matching, direct messaging or direct buyer-supplier contact.

Next step

Turn this into a live commercial project

Open one private brief. A sourcing specialist validates and organises the RFQ, manages outreach to suitable independent suppliers, and presents any responses through SeedMatch on a consistent technical and commercial basis. Response numbers and timing are not guaranteed.