As the container nursery industry faces severe restrictions on water use, researchers are looking to identify ways to minimize watering needs and eliminate excess watering. The authors of a new study say that understanding container-grown plants' capacity to "capture" sprinkler irrigation water can give growers important tools that help them adjust irrigation rates, reduce water use, and produce healthy plants.
Jeff Million and Thomas Yeager from the Department of Environmental Horticulture at the University of Florida say that there has been limited research to evaluate the ability of containerized plants to capture sprinkler irrigation water. "Irrigation capture is important because containers occupy only a fraction of the production area even when closely spaced, and there is potential for plant canopies to influence the proportion of sprinkler irrigation water that is captured relative to that which falls unintercepted between containers," they explained.
"A working knowledge of capture factor (CF) is crucial for determining irrigation requirements to maximize sprinkler irrigation efficiency in container nurseries." The scientists used a formula in three unique experiments to survey irrigation capture in ornamental plants; results of their experiments appeared in the March 2015 issue of HortScience.
