Irrigation and nutrient management in

tree fruit production systems

Denise Neilsen, Gerry Neilsen and Tom Forge
Pacific Agri-Food Research Centre,
Summerland, BC. Canada

WSU Fruit School, Wenatchee WA. Nov. 17, 2015

 Irrigation requirements
• adequate supply
M.9
– prevent stress

0-16in
– maximize yield

– improve fruit quality

0-12in

• more challenging in high density plantings with

restricted roots
 Water Loss via Evapotranspiration (ET)
Solar
radiation Wind

Transpiration from leaf

stomates

Open Closed
water vapor
lost Dry soil
Water stress
Evaporation from Low growth
the leaf surface and
soil surface
CO2 for growth
assimilated
 Plant water stress affects fruit size

< 100% ET
Irrigation 100% ET Irrigation

• Even with optimum irrigation plants can sometimes

experience stress
• In well watered trees sap flow (transpiration)was
reduced when daily ET >0.28 in/day or Max T >95C
 Strategies for managing water well
• Applying water to meet plant
requirements
(irrigation scheduling)

• Conservative, well
engineered systems
• Reducing soil water
evaporation
 Well designed irrigation systems meet
daily peak ET and total needs
Peak daily ET Design flow rates for peak ET
Summerland CS Weather station April-Oct 9
(BCMA Sprinkler and Trickle Irrigation Manuals)
0.28 8

Peak flow requirement

7
0.26

(US gpm/acre)
Peak ET (in/day)

6
0.24 5
4
0.22 3
0.2 2 Micro-irrigation
1 Sprinkler irrigation
0.18 Average = 0.27in 0
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4
0.16
1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020 Peak ET (in/day)

Growing season ET
Summerland CS Weather station April-Oct
• The weather information
Growing season ET (in/year)

330
310
290
is available from WSU Ag
270
250
weather net:
230
210 • http://weather.wsu.edu/
190
170
150
1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020
Well-designed irrigation systems take
into account soil water availability
• Important if soil is being used for water
SATURATED storage
SOIL – characteristic of sprinkler irrigation
– water is usually applied at intervals
greater than 2-3 days
drainage
Drying

• For micro-irrigation, soil storage becomes

AVAILABLE less important if:
WATER – water is applied at high frequency (<2 day
intervals)
– in amounts to meet evaporative demand
– soil moisture is maintained at a high level
BOUND
WATER
 Water – what is really available
• Modified according to soil type, crop rooting depth, crop ability to
extract water (allowable depletion)
• How frequently should it be replenished? - as often as possible

Grape Apple Grape Apple Grape Apple

3.0in 1.2in 0.5in 4.6in 1.9in 0.73in 7.6in 3.0in 1.2in
36 in

Sand Sandy loam Silt loam

 Improving water management with
irrigation scheduling
2.8
Water applied (in)

2.4

2.0

1.6

1.2

0.8

0.4
0

• how long an irrigation system should run

• matches water supply to demand
• uses some measurement or estimate of demand (soil
moisture, climate)
 Soil Moisture Monitoring
Electrical Resistance Block
Capacitance
probes (fully
manual, semi-automated automated
can be fully automated record)

Soil moisture range for micro-irrigation

systems

TDR manual – Soil Type Soil moisture tension

(cbars)
can be
low (wet) high (dry)
automated
Sand 10 15

Tensiometer Loamy sand 10 15

manual – can be Sandy loam 15 20

automated loam 25 30
 Estimating tree water use from
potential evapotranspiration (ET0)

• Actual water use (mm or in) = K x ET0 (in)

Crop coefficient (Kc)

Apply 1.2 in/in ET0
1.2
• K is the crop coefficient and is related to
canopy size 0.8

0.4 Apply 0.5 in/in ET0

• K is the in water required per in of ET0 0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
Weeks after shoot leaf budburst
 Automated sensor systems
Example of a multi-sensor system,
Schematic of a multi-sensor system,
communicating to various devices.
which controls the irrigation system
There are others on the market

S Electronic Solenoid
e switch valve
n
s
o
r Data-
Pressure Irrigation
s logger,
transducer controller
computer

Irrigator
 Targeting water in the root zone using
automated sensing scheduling
Drippers 15 cm from emitter
30 Microsprinklers 15 cm from emitter

1.2 25

Soil moisture (%)

(Kc)

0.8
20
0.4
0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
15
Weeks after budburst
10
203 205 207 209 211
20 Addition Microsprinkler Day of the year
Loss
Rainfall
16 Water use
PET
Water (in)

12
Low
8 drainage
& N loss • Water supply and
4
demand can be matched
0 very well with automated
120 160 200 240 280 scheduling and micro-
Day of the year irrigation
 Nutrient management in irrigated
production
• In irrigated production systems water
and nutrient management are closely
linked and water management
controls nutrient availability
M.9
• Compact root systems and micro-

0-16in
irrigation offer good opportunities for
controlled application of nutrients

• Precision nutrition can reduce inputs

and improve fruit quality 0-12in
 Fertigation can control N in the root
zone over the growing season
100
80 Broadcast • Soil N supply controlled
Nitrate-N (ppm)

60
Irrigated weekly with frequent small
with sprinkler
40 10 day increased N availability
applications
20
0
140 160 180 200 220 240
Day of the year Fertigated daily
200
Nitrate-N (ppm) (N1) with drip
160 (N3)
120
80
40
0
110 130 150 170 190 210 230
Day of the year
 When should N be applied in
spring?
Tree stored N
6 moves into spur,
shoot leaves and
5 fruit
N (g/tree)
Root uptake into shoot
leaves and fruit
• Before petal fall leaf
growth (spur leaves)
supported by

4 Petal
Full fall remobilized N
3 Shoots
bloom • Root uptake occurs
2
Bud Spur leaves mainly after bloom to
break
support shoot and
1 End of cell fruit growth
division
0 Fruit • N inflow into fruit
80 100 120 140 160 180 200 220 occurs mainly after cell
division
Day of the year
Apply fertilizer
after bloom
1oz. = 28.4g
 When should we apply Fall foliar urea?

• In trees with low

leaf N, fall urea
50 applications may
Percentage of total stored N (%)

45
40 increase N
35
30
storage for
25 growth next year
20
15
N from leaf
• In high N trees
10
5 N from spray
foliar urea is not
0
1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 4.0 necessary
Leaf N content (g m-2)

Re-drawn from Cheng et al., 2002 J. Hort. Sci &Biotech 77

 How much N? - removal in fruit and
senescent leaves of apple trees

oz/tree lb/ac*
Golden Delicious/M.9 first year 0.10 8.1

Gala/M.9 third year 0.23 19.7

Elstar/M.9 fourth year 0.34 31.0

Gala/M.9 sixth year 0.43 37.2

• assumes a tree density of 1350 trees/ac

 Water and N drainage reduced by
irrigation scheduling in Gala/M.9
Water loss (gal/tree)

50
Scheduled to meet ET
Unscheduled (fixed rate) • water losses high under
a unscheduled irrigation
25 a
a b
during periods of low ET
b b
0
• water and N losses related
15 fertigation period during fertigation period
N loss (lb/acre)

12
a
9
6 • irrigation scheduling keeps
3 b N in the root zone
0
May June July Aug. Sept. Oct-May May
Soil P availability - Fertigated phosphorus
in apple (drip irrigation)
Single
200 application Year 1
Year 2
150 Year 3
Soil P (ppm)

100

50

0
160 130 190 220
Single large fertigated Day of the year
application can keep P
available 2-3 months
Phosphorus effects on fruit production
- 5 apple cvs/M.9
Fruit P concentration
100 * Cumulative Yield
** ** **
Cumulative Yield

80 (2000-04) 12

(mg/100g F.W.)
(lb/tree)

60 8

Fruit P
-P
40
+P 4
20
0 0
2001 2002 2003

• Phosphorus additions are effective when targeted to the roots

through fertigation

• (20g actual P/tree) as Ammonium Polyphosphate

21
 Effect of fertigated K on leaf K
concentration
Averaged for four apple cultivars (Gala, Fuji,
2 Spartan, Fiesta)
b b
a b b b 1.3%
a
Leaf K (% dw)

a
1 a a

0
Yr 1 Yr 2 Yr 3 Yr 4 Yr 5
0g K/acre/year
45lb K/acre/year
Effects of K fertilizer forms on leaf K
concentration in Braeburn/M.9
a a
ab ab
2.0
a a
c ab ab
1.5 c
1.3% K

1.0

0.5

0.0
2000 Check KCl KMag K2SO4 KTS

2002 Treatment – applied at 90lb K/acre

Bitter pit incidence averaged over 3 years
K applications in a
low K orchard did
15.0 not increase bitter
12.0 pit

9.0

6.0

3.0

Check KCl KMag K2SO4 KTS

Treatment
 Summary: slender spindle apple nutrition
Nutrient Form Application duration Application rate (g/tree)

N 15.5-0-0; Can 17; Daily 6 weeks after bloom 60lb N/ac

Urea If using 10-34-0
then 30 lb/ac
P 0-65-0 (P-acid) One day after bloom 45lb P/ac
10-34-0 45lb P + 30lb N/ac

K 0-0-60 (KCl) Daily for 6 weeks starting 60lb K/ac

K2SO4; Kmag; KTS; 4 weeks after bloom
KNO3
B Solubor (20.3% B) Daily for 6 weeks starting 0.51lb B/ac
4 weeks after bloom

Assumes 1333 trees/acre

Thank you