Articles
Impact of alternating seawater and drinking water irrigation on growth of two seashore paspalum cultivars in extensive green roof systems
Article number
1441_24
Pages
191 – 198
Language
English
Abstract
The ongoing decline in global drinking water reserves necessitates the search for alternative water sources for irrigating turfgrass in extensive green roof systems, particularly in coastal areas in southern semi-arid Mediterranean countries.
In such cases, partially irrigating green roofs with seawater could contribute to the conservation of drinking water supplies.
The study aimed to assess the feasibility of using a combination of seawater and drinking water for irrigating two cultivars of the warm season turfgrass Paspalum vaginatum Sw., ‘Marina’ and ‘Platinum ΤΕ’, when grown in extensive green roof systems.
The study involved 48 lysimeters with a 30-cm diameter, equipped with extensive green roof layering.
Treatments included two substrate depths of 7.5 and 15 cm, along with three irrigation cycles of 1:1, 3:1, and 6:1 alternating seawater and drinking water irrigation applications, respectively.
Measurements included assessing green turf cover (GTC), clipping dry weight, leaching fraction, and electrical conductivity of the leachate from the lysimeters.
During the 58-day stress study, turfgrasses exhibited higher GTC values when subjected to a 1:1 irrigation cycle compared to the other two cycles.
Nevertheless, none of the irrigation cycles managed to sustain GTC levels above 50% for the two cultivars by the end of the study.
Increasing the green roof substrate depth from 7.5 to 15 cm resulted in GTC improvement for both cultivars.
The results from the clipping dry weight aligned with the observations from GTC measurements, with the deeper substrate profiles of 15 cm and the application of the 1:1 irrigation cycle resulting in increased clipping yield for turfgrasses.
In such cases, partially irrigating green roofs with seawater could contribute to the conservation of drinking water supplies.
The study aimed to assess the feasibility of using a combination of seawater and drinking water for irrigating two cultivars of the warm season turfgrass Paspalum vaginatum Sw., ‘Marina’ and ‘Platinum ΤΕ’, when grown in extensive green roof systems.
The study involved 48 lysimeters with a 30-cm diameter, equipped with extensive green roof layering.
Treatments included two substrate depths of 7.5 and 15 cm, along with three irrigation cycles of 1:1, 3:1, and 6:1 alternating seawater and drinking water irrigation applications, respectively.
Measurements included assessing green turf cover (GTC), clipping dry weight, leaching fraction, and electrical conductivity of the leachate from the lysimeters.
During the 58-day stress study, turfgrasses exhibited higher GTC values when subjected to a 1:1 irrigation cycle compared to the other two cycles.
Nevertheless, none of the irrigation cycles managed to sustain GTC levels above 50% for the two cultivars by the end of the study.
Increasing the green roof substrate depth from 7.5 to 15 cm resulted in GTC improvement for both cultivars.
The results from the clipping dry weight aligned with the observations from GTC measurements, with the deeper substrate profiles of 15 cm and the application of the 1:1 irrigation cycle resulting in increased clipping yield for turfgrasses.
Publication
Authors
N. Ntoulas, C. Kalampogias
Keywords
clipping dry weight, green turf cover, Paspalum vaginatum, salinity, substrate depth, turfgrass management, urban horticulture
Groups involved
- Division Landscape and Urban Horticulture
- Division Greenhouse and Indoor Production Horticulture
- Division Precision Horticulture and Engineering
- Division Plant-Environment Interactions in Field Systems
- Division Horticulture for Human Health
- Division Vegetables, Roots and Tubers
- Working Group Vertical Farming
- Working Group Urban Horticulture
Online Articles (36)