Articles
Large weighing lysimeters for determining the seasonal water requirements of early, mid-, and late-season cultivars of northern highbush blueberry
Article number
1440_32
Pages
229 – 236
Language
English
Abstract
Information on the seasonal water requirements is limited for most berry crops, including blueberry (Vaccinium sp.). To address this issue, we installed large weighing lysimeters in western Oregon, USA, to measure crop water use in three northern highbush blueberry (V. corymbosum) cultivars, including ‘Duke’ (early season), ‘Top Shelf’ (mid-season), and ‘Aurora’ (late-season). Each lysimeter was constructed from steel and consisted of a large soil tank (1.5-m long × 0.9-m wide × 1.0-m deep), positioned on four heavy-duty load cells, housed inside an underground chamber.
The lysimeters were located near the center of a 0.4-ha field and capable of measuring weight changes equivalent to ≈0.025 mm of water use.
The field was planted and managed following standard industry practices, including incorporating sawdust into the soil prior to shaping raised planting beds, applying sawdust mulch immediately after planting, seeding grass alleyways between the rows, irrigating with two lines of drip tubing per row, and fertigating with nitrogen and other nutrients as needed.
Plants were spaced 0.9×3.0 m apart in both the field and lysimeters (one plant per lysimeter). In 2023, we collected the first year of data from the lysimeters, including weight loss from crop evapotranspiration and soil drainage and weight gain from rain and irrigation.
Based on these data, we found that water uptake during a warm 6-day period in mid-August averaged ≈32% of potential evapotranspiration and occurred primarily in the top 0.2 m of the soil profile.
The plants had no fruit the first year because the flower buds were removed during winter pruning to encourage better root and shoot development (industry standard). We are currently in the process of using the data to develop crop coefficients for estimating daily water use based on weather conditions and will continue to do so until the planting reaches full production.
The lysimeters were located near the center of a 0.4-ha field and capable of measuring weight changes equivalent to ≈0.025 mm of water use.
The field was planted and managed following standard industry practices, including incorporating sawdust into the soil prior to shaping raised planting beds, applying sawdust mulch immediately after planting, seeding grass alleyways between the rows, irrigating with two lines of drip tubing per row, and fertigating with nitrogen and other nutrients as needed.
Plants were spaced 0.9×3.0 m apart in both the field and lysimeters (one plant per lysimeter). In 2023, we collected the first year of data from the lysimeters, including weight loss from crop evapotranspiration and soil drainage and weight gain from rain and irrigation.
Based on these data, we found that water uptake during a warm 6-day period in mid-August averaged ≈32% of potential evapotranspiration and occurred primarily in the top 0.2 m of the soil profile.
The plants had no fruit the first year because the flower buds were removed during winter pruning to encourage better root and shoot development (industry standard). We are currently in the process of using the data to develop crop coefficients for estimating daily water use based on weather conditions and will continue to do so until the planting reaches full production.
Publication
Authors
D.R. Bryla, S.T. Orr, C. Souto
Keywords
crop coefficients, evapotranspiration, irrigation, rooting depth, Vaccinium sp
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