Monitoring Irrigation at Container Nurseries

Abstract

<jats:p>Efficient usage of current water supplies is of great concern to container-nursery producers. Improving water management first requires knowledge of current commercial container production practices. In this study, irrigation distribution from overhead sprinklers was monitored at container nurseries to determine the distribution and the amount of irrigation applied during a typical irrigation cycle. Several nurseries surveyed had poorly designed irrigation systems; subsequently, irrigation distribution varied widely at sampling dates and within the growing-container block. Uniform distribution was achieved at some nurseries, but required careful monitoring of the irrigation system. Future water restrictions may force nurseries to improve water usage by changing irrigation delivery methods to minimize water use, resulting in reduced surface runoff and effluent from container nurseries.</jats:p>

Growth Response Of Container Grown Japanese Azalea And Euonymus And Concentration Of Nitrates And Phosphates In The Runoff Water Under Different Irrigation And Fertilization

“…It means that two-fold increase of irrigation rate (from 12.5 to 25 mm in 2011 and from 25 to 50 mm in 2012) resulted in 2.75-and 2.23-fold (respectively in 2011 and 2012) increase in the amount of water leakage to the soil environment. The lower runoff volumes resulting from lower irrigation rates in this study are consistent with results reported by Fare et al (1992), Warsaw et al (2009a, b) and Sammons and Struve (2010). An efficient alternative to the standard practice of overhead irrigation can also be cyclic irrigation.…”

“…However, 22 B. Matysiak ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ such a system is easy to over-applicate water because it does not react to daily changes in precipitation or evapotranspiration and concomitant fertilizer and pesticide leaching. Existing irrigation estimates for container nursery production are as high as 2900 mm annually with as much as 33 mm daily (Fare et al 1992;Beeson & Brooks 2008). With overhead irrigation, the percentage of irrigation water that is intercepted by the plant/container ranges from 25% to 37%.…”

Water Use and Growth of Hibiscus acetosella ‘Panama Red’ Grown with a Soil Moisture Sensor-controlled Irrigation System

“…The need to improve irrigation practices and control runoff in container nurseries is well known. Fare et al (1992) found that irrigation volumes in container nurseries in Alabama varied greatly. Growers surveyed thought they were applying water at a rate of 2.54 cm · h -1 , but actual rates ranged from 0.8 to 3.2 cm · h -1 .…”

“…Increased monitoring of irrigation applications is necessary to compensate for changing conditions in nurseries and to ensure irrigation is being applied uniformly and efficiently (Fare et al, 1992). Plant size has been found to be a determining factor in plant water use (Knox, 1989) and water use generally increases with plant age (Million et al, 2007).…”

A Computer-controlled Drip Irrigation System for Container Plant Production

“…There has been limited development of these types of systems for field or container nurseries (Smajstrla and Koo, 1986). Field irrigation in the horticultural industry in many cases is based on a traditional rule of thumb; for example, watering plants 1 h a day (Fare et al, 1992). Manualcontrol or simple timers are sufficient to meet the needs of this type of watering system.…”