Plant Water Use Differs among Three Mature Highbush Blueberry Cultivars

The water use of three mature highbush blueberry cultivars was determined during the growing season by using TDR technology. A combination of four buriable TDR waveguides at 6-, 12-, 18-, and 24-inch depth and two surface waveguides 6- and 18-inch length were installed in a 60-acre commercial `Bluejay', `Bluecrop', and `Jersey' blueberry field with four replications for each cultivar. The reference evapotranspiration (ETo) was obtained for each cultivar from three weather stations located in the vicinity of replicated waveguides. Soil moisture data were collected every 3-5 days from April to the end of September. The average daily crop evapotranspiration (ETc) was significantly different at different plant developmental stages among three cultivars; the highest daily plant water use was during the fruit development stage for all three cultivars. The crop ETc for `Bluejay' and `Elliott' can be as high as 0.35 inches per day and average 1.5 to 2 inches per week during the summer. The estimated crop coefficients at bloom, fruit development, harvest, and postharvest are 0.90, 1.51, 1.05, and 1.05 for `Bluejay'; 0.84, 1.11, 0.99, and 1.23 for `Bluecrop'; and 0.94, 1.30, 1.39, and 1.17 for `Jersey', respectively. The peak water use coincides well with the advancement of fruit maturity, suggesting irrigation scheduling should differ among early, mid, and later season highbush blueberry cultivars.

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Soil moisture heterogeneity regulates water use in Populus nigra L. by altering root and xylem sap phytohormone concentrations

Tree Physiology ◽

10.1093/treephys/tpaa037 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 40 (6) ◽

pp. 762-773 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Jaime Puértolas ◽

Marta Pardos ◽

Carlos de Ollas ◽

Alfonso Albacete ◽

Ian C Dodd

Keyword(s):

Soil Moisture ◽

Water Use ◽

Deficit Irrigation ◽

Xylem Sap ◽

Irrigation Scheduling ◽

Populus Nigra ◽

Soil Drying ◽

Plant Water ◽

Plant Water Use ◽

Soil Moisture Heterogeneity

Abstract Soil moisture heterogeneity in the root zone is common both during the establishment of tree seedlings and in experiments aiming to impose semi-constant soil moisture deficits, but its effects on regulating plant water use compared with homogenous soil drying are not well known in trees. Pronounced vertical soil moisture heterogeneity was imposed on black poplar (Populus nigra L.) grown in soil columns by altering irrigation frequency, to test whether plant water use, hydraulic responses, root phytohormone concentrations and root xylem sap chemical composition differed between wet (well-watered, WW), and homogeneously (infrequent deficit irrigation, IDI) and heterogeneously dry soil (frequent deficit irrigation, FDI). At the same bulk soil water content, FDI plants had greater water use than IDI plants, probably because root abscisic acid (ABA) concentration was low in the upper wetter layer of FDI plants, which maintained root xylem sap ABA concentration at basal levels in contrast with IDI. Soil drying did not increase root xylem concentration of any other hormone. Nevertheless, plant-to-plant variation in xylem jasmonic acid (JA) concentration was negatively related to leaf stomatal conductance within WW and FDI plants. However, feeding detached leaves with high (1200 nM) JA concentrations via the transpiration stream decreased transpiration only marginally. Xylem pH and sulphate concentration decreased in FDI plants compared with well-watered plants. Frequent deficit irrigation increased root accumulation of the cytokinin trans-zeatin (tZ), especially in the dry lower layer, and of the ethylene precursor 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid (ACC), in the wet upper soil layer. Root hormone accumulation might explain the maintenance of high root hydraulic conductance and water use in FDI plants (similar to well-watered plants) compared with IDI plants. In irrigated tree crops, growers could vary irrigation scheduling to control water use by altering the hormone balance.

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A Model for Irrigation Scheduling in Container-Grown Nursery Crops Utilizing Management Allowed Deficit (MAD)

Journal of Environmental Horticulture ◽

10.24266/0738-2898-11.3.115 ◽

1993 ◽

Vol 11 (3) ◽

pp. 115-118

Author(s):

Douglas F. Welsh ◽

Jayne M. Zajicek

Keyword(s):

Plant Growth ◽

Water Use ◽

Irrigation Scheduling ◽

Plant Performance ◽

Plant Water ◽

Irrigation Regimes ◽

Plant Water Use ◽

Moisture Deficit ◽

Growing Medium ◽

Nursery Crops

Abstract Plant growth and water use of container-grown Photinia × fraseri (Dress) were studied under varying irrigation regimes. Treatments were based on management allowed deficit (MAD) irrigation (including 0, 5, 10, 25, 50, 75 and 95% MAD), which links evapotranspiration (ET) and plant available moisture in determining irrigation schedules. Plant growth was maximized under 25% MAD irrigation. Plant performance and water use were significantly reduced as moisture deficit levels in the growing medium exceeded 50% under MAD irrigation of 50%, 75% and 95%. Plant performance also tended to decrease, but plant water use increased with lower MAD treatments (i.e., 0%, 5%, 10%). The research reported provides a model for nursery managers and researchers to use MAD irrigation in determining optimum irrigation regimes to meet plant water needs and maintain maximum plant performance.

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Water Use and Crop Coefficients of Woody Ornamentals in Containers

Journal of the American Society for Horticultural Science ◽

10.21273/jashs.122.5.727 ◽

1997 ◽

Vol 122 (5) ◽

pp. 727-734 ◽

Cited By ~ 17

Author(s):

Ursula K. Schuch ◽

David W. Burger

Keyword(s):

Water Use ◽

Extended Period ◽

High Water ◽

Growth Stages ◽

Intermediate Water ◽

Plant Water ◽

Woody Ornamentals ◽

Water Users ◽

Plant Water Use ◽

Crop Coefficients

Twelve species of woody ornamentals were grown in containers in Riverside and Davis, Calif., to determine plant water use and compare crop coefficients (Kc) calculated with reference evapotranspiration (ET) from local weather stations (ETcim) or atmometers (ETatm). Water use, Kcatm, and Kccim differed by species, location, and month of the year. Raphiolepis indica (L.) Lindl., Pittosporum tobira (Thunb.) Ait., Juniperus sabina L., and Photinia ×fraseri Dress. were the highest water users in Riverside and Arctostaphylos densiflora M.S. Bak., Juniperus, Cercis occidentalis Torr., and Pittosporum used the highest amount of water in Davis, when averaged over the 20-month study period. Rhamnus californica Eschsch., Prunus ilicifolia (Nutt.) Walp., and Cercocarpus minutiflorus Abrams. were among the lowest water users in both locations. Although plant water use fluctuated considerably between individual sampling dates, the relative ranking of species water use in each location changed very little over the study period. During periods of high winds, ETcim may not provide an accurate reference for container crops. Kc values fluctuated seasonally from as much as 1 to 4.7 for high water users, while values were stable for low water users and also for Buxus microphylla japonica Rehd. & E.H. Wils., an intermediate water user. During periods of low ET, especially in fall and winter, Kc values were artificially high and failed to correspond to the plants' low water use. Kc values for low water users seem to be useful to estimate water requirements over an extended period of time, whereas general Kc values seem to have limited value for plants with high water demand and need to be modified for different growth stages and growing locations.

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