4 - Irrigation in Soilless Production

Abstract

Irrigation is the process of delivering water to plants so as to meet their needs for several important resources. There are several approaches to making irrigation decisions in the nursery: look-and-feel, gravimetric, timer-based, sensor-based, and model-based methods. While providing water is certainly a major facet of irrigation, various other nutrients, as well as oxygen, that are dissolved in the water are also provided to the plant at the same time. In soilless plant production, soluble fertilizers are frequently dissolved in the irrigation water using injection equipment. When the irrigation scheme includes soluble fertilizers dissolved in the irrigation water at various concentrations, this is called “fertigation.” Irrigation delivery systems are always designed to optimize various specific characteristics. This includes system capacity as well as system uniformity. The degree to which these characteristics are optimized has a greater impact on how irrigation is controlled rather than on the water utilization of the crop. All irrigation systems consist of tubing or pipe to transport the irrigation solution from the source to the individual plants or to a group of plants. Mixing or blending tanks assure that the dissolved materials are distributed uniformly within the water, and filters remove any insoluble materials. Irrigation schemes are management strategies developed to attain specific crop production goals utilizing various delivery and monitoring methods and refer to the overall plan of managing the irrigation water for the duration of the crop.