A.N. Lakso, M. Santiago, S. Zhu and A.D. Stroock
Cornell University
- Water is one of the most critical limitations to growth, productivity, fruit or nut quality and profitability in fruit crops. Monitoring dynamic plant responses to soil water, weather, rainfall and irrigation is the key to optimal water management.
- We have developed and tested an electronic, large-range, continuous-reading water potential sensor for embedding in the trunks of woody plants to monitor vine water status, specifically stem water potentials.
- The sensor chip has the same principle as the common soil tensiometer, but with a much smaller volume and 50-200 times greater range. The sensor chip is integrated with associated data handling, logging and wireless transmission for online monitoring.
- The microtensiometer has been field tested in apple, grape and almond with high correlations to stem potentials by the standard manual pressure chamber method. The ability to monitor plant stress with the microtensiometer will be a valuable tool for precision irrigation programs, research, and modeling.
For More Information:
Website:
- The FloraPulse company , founded by ANL, ADS and MS, is commercializing the microtensiometer. Examples of real-time data on vine water status in CA are shown.
Publications:
American Fruit Grower, 2019, Real time water data delivers big opportunity for growers. July 2019 Issue.