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ROOT SYSTEM AND NUTRITIONAL STATUS OF PEACHES UNDER DRIP OR FLOOD IRRI GATION IN WARM CLIMATES.
Trees were planted 6 x 5 m on drip and 5 x 4 m on flood.
On drip, two emitters per tree were located 1 m from the trunk.
For root distribution, observational trenches were dug every 40 cm from the trunk in a triangle pattern up to a distance of 1.6 m.
On the exposed trench thick (> 2mm) and thin (< 2mm) roots were counted at every 20 cm horizons down to 1.2 m depth.
Considering the total number of roots found, there were more on flood than on drip irrigated trees.
About 60% of all roots were at the first 40 cm depth on drip and only 30% on flood, the latter having more thick or thin roots at deeper horizons.
Horizontally, the least number of roots were found closer to the trunk in both irrigation system at all depths, but no differences were found in drip or flood as to their overall horizontal pattern of root distribution.
The nutritional foliar status of peaches, were similar for both irrigation systems throughout the season for N, Cu, Zn, Ca, Mg, K and P. For Mn there was a difference in the seasonal pattern, being stable and low on drip and increasing higher on flood.