Irrigation involves the risk of secondary salinization on certain areas. The increase of the level of salty groundwater or the application of poor quality (salty) irrigation water can cause secondary salinization. Irrigation from drilled wells is very characteristic in the small hobby gardens located around Karcag during the frequently droughty summers. Mainly vegetables and fruits with high water demand are grown in these gardens, hence quite a large amount of subsurface waters are used for irrigation. Water samples were taken from 46 drilled wells located in the hobby gardens around the town of Karcag and analysed in order to survey the risk of secondary salinization. On the base of the results of the analyses and some indexes calculated from the chemical parameters of the irrigation waters, it can be established that none of the investigated wells supply water that is suitable for irrigation without improvement.