(354) A Novel Automated System for Irrigation and Simulating Drought Stress in Potted Plants

Abstract

We have developed a completely automated irrigation system that measures and maintains substrate volumetric water content (θ) at a target level for any length of time. Advantages of this system include complete automation of irrigation and simulation of precise levels of drought stress for potted plants. This system uses ECH2O moisture sensors interfaced with a CR10X datalogger and solenoid valves connected to the datalogger by a SDM CD16 AC/DC controller. The datalogger measures the θ of the substrate hourly. When the θ of the substrate drops below the set point, the datalogger opens the solenoid valves, which results in irrigation. Substrate θ is maintained at a constant level as the datalogger is programmed to increase θ by 2% to 3% during each irrigation. When the system was validated for its accuracy, we determined that the θ measured in the substrate within the range of 0.15 to 0.35 m3·m-3 was close (2% to 3%) to the θ determined by the conventional volumetric analysis. The daily average θ maintained in the substrate was slightly higher (within 3%) than the target level. Using this system, we were able to maintain four distinct levels of substrate θ for a prolonged period (40 days), regardless of differences in plant size and environmental conditions. Significant increases in number of irrigations, total water-use, and transpiration rate of impatiens, salvia, vinca, and petunia were noticed with increasing target θ of the substrate. For all species, highest and lowest water-use efficiency (WUE) were seen at 0.09 and 0.32 m3·m-3, respectively, while WUE was not different between 0.15 and 0.22 m3·m-3.