In Situ Probes for Direct Measurement of Substrate Soluble Salts: Effects of Substrate Moisture Content and Fertilizer Concentration

Abstract

Several probes have been been recently developed that can be inserted directly into the growing medium of container-grown crops to get electrical conductivity (EC) or pH measurements. However, for many floriculture and greenhouse crops, EC interpretation ranges are based on substrate solution extraction methods such as the 1:2 v/v dilution, saturated media extract (SME), and more recently, the pour-through. We tested the sensitivity and accuracy of four in situ EC probes at a range of substrate moisture content and fertilizer concentrations. We also compared results from in situ probes with currently used methods of EC measurement. Concerning the effects of substrate volumetric water content (VWC) on the in situ probes, our results indicate little differences exist among probes when VWC exceeds 0.50, though drier substrates yielded differences depending on the measurement method. The SigmaProbe and W.E.T Probe measure the EC of the pore water specifically and show a decrease in EC with increasing water content, as the fertilizer ions in the pore water becomes more diluted as VWC increases. Results with the Hanna and FieldScout probes increased with increasing water content as the added water helps conduct the current of these meters. The EC measured with the various in situ probes differed slightly among the probes, but was highly and positively correlated with all three of the solution extraction methods over the range of fertilizer concentrations. It would be possible to convert substrate EC guidelines that have been established for any of the laboratory methods for use with the in situ probes, though our results indicate the substrate VMC must be above 0.35 for the interpretation to be valid.