Articles
TOMATO ROOT DEVELOPMENT ON SAND MULCH, PLASTIC GREENHOUSE IN ALMERIA (SPAIN)
Article number
191_11
Pages
113 – 122
Language
Abstract
Most of the 11 000 ha of plastic greenhouses in Almeria use beach sand as mulch on a stratified, artificial soil profile.
Manure is placed on strips, about 1 m wide and 2 cm deep, between the sand and the 20 cm of loam or clay soil placed on top of the original, rocky, sandy loam soil.
Under such conditions, there is great uncertainty on the pattern and extension of root development and on the role that each soil layer plays in supplying water and nutrients to the crop.
The use of localized, drip irrigation systems adds an additional level of complexity, increasing the spatial variability of soil water and nutrients.
A three-year study on root development of tomato, under three levels of irrigation and of nitrogen fertilization was conducted at the Experimental Farm of the "Caja Rural de Almeria". A modified trench-profile technique and core sampling using Newman’s method to estimate root length densities, gave estimates of root length for each soil layer as affected by the nitrogen and water supply.
Root growth was substantial in the interface between the sand layer and the manure, with root length density values between 10 and 100 cm/cm3. Root length in the sand-manure zone contributed nearly 25 percent of the total measured root length.
Manure is placed on strips, about 1 m wide and 2 cm deep, between the sand and the 20 cm of loam or clay soil placed on top of the original, rocky, sandy loam soil.
Under such conditions, there is great uncertainty on the pattern and extension of root development and on the role that each soil layer plays in supplying water and nutrients to the crop.
The use of localized, drip irrigation systems adds an additional level of complexity, increasing the spatial variability of soil water and nutrients.
A three-year study on root development of tomato, under three levels of irrigation and of nitrogen fertilization was conducted at the Experimental Farm of the "Caja Rural de Almeria". A modified trench-profile technique and core sampling using Newman’s method to estimate root length densities, gave estimates of root length for each soil layer as affected by the nitrogen and water supply.
Root growth was substantial in the interface between the sand layer and the manure, with root length density values between 10 and 100 cm/cm3. Root length in the sand-manure zone contributed nearly 25 percent of the total measured root length.
Authors
N. Castilla, C. Gimenez, E. Fereres
Keywords
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