Agricultural Water Management 274 (2022) 107927

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Agricultural Water Management

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/agwat

Modeling capillary wick irrigation system for greenhouse crop production

Shaheen Javed Roonjho a, *, Rowshon Md Kamal a, *, Abdul Rehman Roonjho b
a
Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), 43400 Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia
b
Faculty of Agriculture, Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), 43400 Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Handling Editor - Dr. B.E. Clothier Microirrigation system is an efficient irrigation method that saves up to 60% of water and nutrients. However,
the huge investment for installation of modern microirrigation systems is beyond of many smallholder crop
Keywords: producers. Therefore, this study focuses to model and develop the capillary wick irrigation system for greenhouse
Microirrigation crop production to address this issue. The results revealed on tested wick materials that the maximum capillary
Capillary wick irrigation
height and maximum water holding capacity were observed in cotton bonded non-woven wick material
Hanging wick
compared to other materials (p > 0.05). Water level, wick length, and pot size linearly affected the discharge of
Buried wick
Greenhouse potted crops wick emitter in hanging and buried capillary wick irrigation system (CWIS). In this study, the discharge equa­
tions for wick emitter of hanging and buried CWIS were successfully developed. Comparison of calculated
discharge using newly developed equation with actual measured discharge of buried wick for potted tomatoes in
greenhouse proved the accuracy of the equation. The effects of evapotranspiration were also found linearly on
discharge of wick emitter and the relation between emitter discharge, pot size and evapotranspiration were lead
the development of wick discharge linear curve (WDLC). WDLC introduced to estimate the required discharge for
potted crops under CWIS. Then, solver program was used to successfully simulate the wick discharge for different
potted crops under a CWIS. Outcomes of the study can be beneficial for smallholder farmers for greenhouse crop
production for adopting CWIS as low-cost and highly efficient microirrigation system.

1. Introduction agricultural production. It helps to meet the food demands of today’s

Almost 70 % of our planet is covered with water, but unfortunately,
only about 3 % of earth’s water is fresh and of that less than 1 % water is
usable (WWF, 2021). Water scarcity and agriculture are intrinsically
linked as agriculture consumes 72 % of available fresh water compared
to 16 % by municipalities for domestic use and 12 % by industries (UN-
Water, 2019). According to the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization
(FAO), approximately 60 % of fresh water used in agriculture sector
wasted due to inefficient applications. Therefore, there is an urgent need
to develop and adopt efficient irrigation methods and proper irrigation
management strategies. One of the irrigation management strategies is
the adoption of microirrigation such as drip irrigation system (Levidow
et al., 2014). Drip irrigation has been proven to save significant amounts
of water and labor cost, increase yield, and enhance product quality
compared to other microirrigation systems (Catin and Kara, 2021).
However, its high investment and energy costs prevent the wider ap­
plications among farmers, especially subsistence farmers (Muhammad,
2015). Greenhouse plant production is a good option in boosting
world increasing population. Nevertheless, the costs of current micro­
irrigation systems are out of reach for many smallholder crop producers
especially in developing Asian countries. Therefore, there has been
immense interest in developing new microirrigation systems, and wick
irrigation system is promising irrigation method to address this issue
(Brainbridge, 2014). The self-watering system employing a wick was
used by Dolar and Keeney (1971) and Helmut (1972). Capillary wick
irrigation system (CWIS) is a sub-irrigation system that utilizes a device
(strip) which provides water through capillary movement from a
reservoir to the plant growing medium (Semananda et al., 2018; Ful­
tariya et al., 2017). The CWIS is economical in terms of time and labor
costs in comparison with overhead irrigation systems for potted plants
(Semananda et al., 2018). It is also water and nutrient efficient and
therefore, it is ideal for greenhouse crop production (So et al., 2003).
The capillary irrigation system produces better quality with less water
loss as there is no runoff, decreases chances of pests and diseases attacks
and it also offers easy and economical cost of installation and operation
(Bainbridge, 2002; Rowshon et al., 2019; Heidari et al., 2022). The

* Corresponding authors.
E-mail addresses: shaheenroonjho@gmail.com (S.J. Roonjho), rowshon@upm.edu.my (R.M. Kamal), rehmanroonjha@gmail.com (A.R. Roonjho).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agwat.2022.107927
Received 12 April 2022; Received in revised form 2 September 2022; Accepted 5 September 2022
Available online 23 September 2022
0378-3774/© 2022 Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
S.J. Roonjho et al.
self-watering system also increases the efficiency of root water and
nutrient uptake (Million et al., 2007; Al-Mayahi et al., 2020). Bhatt and
Kanzariya (2017) reported 54.6 % increase in yield and 82.4 % water
saving in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) using wick irrigation compared
to the basin irrigation method. Wick irrigation method was reported as
an effective method to produce quality azaleas compared to other irri­
gation method (Million et al., 2007). Chaturvedi et al. (2021) evaluated
the physiological efficiency with mechanistic understanding of chili,
okra and tomato crop under wick irrigation method compared to con­
ventional irrigation and found wick irrigation significantly efficient over
conventional irrigation. Since the introduction of the system, there were
a few drawbacks but with the passage of time and a little attention of
scientists, these problems were solved i.e. Wesonga et al. (2014) stated
that the ability of a CWIS for raising water ranges from 10 to 20 cm.
However, selections of wick materials play an important role in CWIS
(Lee et al., 2010). Moreover, cotton bonded non-woven wick material
(CNW) is the most studied and only commercially available wick ma­
terial (Muhammad, 2015). In most of earlier studies, the wicks were
used from the bottom of the pot (Wesonga et al., 2014; Muhammad,
2015). Therefore, the height of the pots was limited due to the wick
inability to raise water to the upper part of the pots. This limitation
could be overcome by using wick from the surface of the pots
(Muhammad, 2015). Moreover, there was also a challenge of roots not
penetrating in wick emitters, resulting in the reduction of capillary ac­
tion. This problem was later addressed by Masuda (2008) by developing
a root-proof CWIS for long-term vegetable production to protect the
emitters from penetration by the roots.
Despite numerous advantages of the wick irrigation system, the wick
irrigation has not received enough attention from researchers and very
few studies applied this method. In addition, several materials could be
suitable for wick emitters. However, very few materials have been tested
as wick emitters. Thus, there is still a need for scientific concern. The
available literature on wick discharge and its relation to discharge
controlling factors are also limited as in previous studies the discharge
rate of wick emitter was neglected. Therefore, the current study was
conducted to develop a systematic capillary wick irrigation system
(hanging and buried) for greenhouse crop production. The objectives
were: (1) to evaluate the performance of wick emitter under different
arrangements both in laboratory and greenhouse conditions; (2) to
develop wick emitter discharge equation for buried and hanging wick
irrigation system and (3) to develop a simulation model for estimating
the recommended wick discharge for different greenhouse potted crops.
2. Methodology
2.1. Evaluation of wick
Experiments were carried out in the soil physics laboratory, Uni­
versiti Putra Malaysia, with three replications to select the optimal wick
material(s) for use in the capillary wick irrigation system, following a
methodology adopted in Wesonga et al. (2014) but with slight modifi­
cations. Three different wick materials each of 10 mm wide and 400 mm
long (1 ×40 cm) were evaluated in this study; the cotton bonded
non-woven wick (CNW), and two other local wick materials; the gunny
bag material (GBM) and cotton material (CM) car towel duster. The
CNW was imported from South Korea and composed of 10 % nylon 10 %
polyester and 80 % of cotton. The GBM made of hessian fabric (burlap)
formed from jute, whilst the CM made of cotton. Three parameters were
measured in this study water holding capacity (WHC), capillarity action
and maximum capillary height (MHC).
Water holding capacity (WHC) was determined by firstly oven drying
the wick materials at 50 ◦ C until a constant weight was obtained using
analytical balance (Sartorius, BT 224 S). Subsequently, the wick mate­
rials were soaked in a shallow basin of water and allowed to saturate for
10 min. The saturated wick materials were weighed and placed on a
piece of netting to drain excess water for 5 min. Water holding capacity
2
Agricultural Water Management 274 (2022) 107927
of each material was calculated using Equation.
( )
Ms − MD
WHC(%) = × 100 (1)
Ms
Where WHC is water holding capacity (%), MS is the mass of saturated
wick material (g) and MD the dry mass of a wick material (g).
For capillary rise, the wick materials were oven-dried and then
pegged on a string clamped on two rings stand. The bottom end of each
wick material was inserted into a water-filled beaker, and red color
(marker ink) was added to the water to enhance the visual observation.
Water rise was observed visually and then measured in centimeters
using measuring tape every hour thereafter maximum capillary height
was recorded after three hours when there was no further water rise
(Wesonga et al., 2014).
2.2. Determination of wick discharge under different arrangements
The capillary wick irrigation system absorbed water from the PVC
pipe and supplied it into the potted substrate or collection beaker by
gravity. The laboratory experiment was set up for the discharge mea­
surement (Fig. 1). Wick material (cotton bonded non-woven wick) 1 cm
wide 40 cm long and Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) pipe 9 cm (diameter)
were used and discharge rates of the hanging and buried wicks were
measured under various combinations of the controlling factors. For
hanging wick, the correlation of five different water levels inside the
PVC pipe (5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 cm) and three different wick lengths inside
the pipe (7, 9, and 11 cm) were evaluated. The elevation difference
between ground and PVC pipes was 32 cm, while, end caps of PVC pipes
were modified through cutting according to the desired water level to
manage water level inside pipe. Water was collected for 24 h using a
beaker and then measured using gratitude cylinder and the experiment
was replicated five times. For buried wick, peat moss (Peatgro™ stan­
dard grade) was used as a growing media, with five different water
levels inside the pipe (5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 cm), three different wick lengths
inside the PVC pipe (7, 9, and 11 cm), two different initial water con­
tents of the growing media (10 % and 20 %), and three different pot sizes
by volume (3 L, 6 L and 12 L). The discharge rate of the wick was
measured for 24 h using an analytical balance, while initial water con­
tent was measured using a soil sensor (Spectrum Technologies, Inc.).
2.3. Estimation of the discharge of the wick emitter
Muhammad (2015) derived equations for compensating wick emitter
discharge for buried and hanging (Eqs. 2 and 3) following the continuity
equation for water flow (Eq.4) (Keller and Bliesner, 1990) by replacing
pressure head of a drip emitter with a capillary height of the wicking
emitter.
qe = 60⋅8 h−c 0⋅66 (for buried wick) (2)
and qe= 32⋅85 h−c 0⋅26 (for hanging wick) (3)
where, qe= emitter discharge (ml/hr) and hc= capillary height (mm).
qe= ke × hxe (4)
where, qe= emitter discharge, ke= emitter discharge coefficient he= ­
Pressure head x = an exponent (dimensionless), which varies between
0 and 1.
Muhammad (2015) used distance between water level and the top
edge of PVC pipe as capillary height in the above equations. However,
there are also some other factors e.g. size of PVC pipe (diameter), water
level inside pipe, wick length inside pipe, distance between water level
and top edge of the PVC pipe in both hanging and buried wicks and pot
size, which are directly responsible for controlling discharge of buried
and hanging wicks. Therefore, an attempt was made to develop the wick
discharge equation with maximum possible discharge controlling
S.J. Roonjho et al.
Fig. 1. : Layout of the experimental setup under laboratory.
factors. In order to develop wick discharge equation, the continuity
equation for water flow was solved by calculating x (exponent) and Ke
(emitter discharge coefficient) as per Eqs. 5 and 6.
( )
log q1
(5)
q2
x= ( )
log h1
h2
qe
and ke =
he x
where, q1 and q2 = minimum and maximum discharges respectively
and h1 and h2= minimum and maximum pressure head respectively.
While, q= emitter discharge (ml/hr) and h= pressure head which was
replaced with controlling factors (fc) in this study. The relationship
between emitter discharge (qe) and controlling factors (fc) was used for
developing of the wick discharge equation through a series of laboratory
experiments.
Furthermore, irrigation uniformity of CNW wick emitter was already
discussed in detail by Muhammad and Rowshon (2015), who reported
95.65 % and 92.67 % uniformity coefficient and distribution uniformity
of CNW wick emitter respectively and the same findings were confirmed
in our current study.
2.4. Tomato nursery
A local hybrid variety of tomato was selected for greenhouse
experiment; the seeds were sown in small pots (one L) containing soil
and sand 2:1 and irrigated manually. After three weeks, plants were
transplanted to the pots used in experiment containing peat moss
(Peatgro™ standard grade).
2.5. Experimental setup in greenhouse
Furthermore, greenhouse experiments were conducted to measure
the discharge of buried wick and also to observe the effects of evapo­
transpiration (ET) on the discharge of buried wick. The performance of
buried wick irrigation was tested with potted tomatoes. The experi­
mental setup was installed at Ladang 2, Universiti Putra Malaysia. Three
plastic pots of 3, 6, and 12 L capacity were regulated under two different
water level, 50 % (4.5 cm) and 75 % (6.75 cm). The pot sizes were
Agricultural Water Management 274 (2022) 107927
selected as recommended in this paper (Joseph, 2010). The treatments
were replicated six times on six PVC pipes each of 90 mm in diameter
and 3658 mm in length, giving a total of 6 treatments. Subsequently,
total 36 wick emitters each of 40 cm in length (9 cm inside PVC pipe and
10, 12 and 16 cm depth of wick emitter in 3 L, 6 L and 12 L pot
respectively) were used. The elevation differences between pot and
pipes were 7 cm, 11 cm and 13 cm for 12 L, 6 L and 3 L respectively as
shown in Fig. 2.
(6)
2.6. Measurement of wick discharge in greenhouse
Discharges were measured for 24 h with an analytical balance (SF-
400). Two pots from each treatment were randomly selected for
discharge measurement. Round shaped plastic trays were placed at the
bottom of every pot to collect excess water drained out from the pots,
and the pre-weighed pots were weighed after 24 h using an analytical
balance (SF-400). And the discharge was measured using the Eq.7.
Q = IW-FW+ET (7)
Where, IW is initial weight (g), FW final weight (g), and ET is
Evapotranspiration (ml).
2.7. Evapotranspiration determination
Evapotranspiration was determined using the gravimetric method
with monitoring of the pot weight loss over a given time interval (Kirnak
et al., 2001). In order to determine the ET by gravimetric methods, the
tomato plants were grown in the same sized pots used in the treatments
and were irrigated to saturation and then left for one hour. The pots
were weighed using an analytical balance (SF-400). Consequently, the
decrease in the pot weights, after 24 h, was the amount of water
consumed by the evapotranspiration process.
2.8. Estimation of wick discharge for different crops
The wick discharges were estimated as per wick discharge simulation
chart (Fig. 3) for different crops i.e. eggplant, cabbage, cauliflower,
strawberries, and sweet peppers. The selected crops were studied at
flowering and fruiting stages under glasshouse condition in tropical
3
S.J. Roonjho et al. Agricultural Water Management 274 (2022) 107927

Fig. 2. : Layout of the experimental setup in greenhouse.

Fig. 3. : Simulation chart for the selection of the best wick irrigation model.
climate because these stages are known as peak stages of crops and
required high amount of water. To estimate the required discharge for
the selected crop, crop characteristics were needed i.e. Crop ET and
recommended pot size. Evapotranspiration was estimated using CROP­
WAT software (Anon, 2009). The climatic data were collected from the
Malaysian metrological department. Finally, the crop ET was obtained
using the Eq.8 (Salama, 2011):
(P > 0.05) over the entire period as presented in Table 1. The cotton
boded non-woven wick material (CNW) exhibited the highest water
absorption pattern with 20 cm at 180 min, while the lowest capillary
action was recorded in the cotton material (CM) with 6 cm at 180 min.
Capillary action was in order CNW > GBM > CM over the entire period.
The CNW material used as wick material performed significantly better
than GBM and CM. The Maximum capillary height was recorded in CNW
followed by GBM followed by CM with 20 cm, 8 cm, and 6 cm respec­
tively. CNW, GBM, and CM were also significantly different from each
other in the water holding capacity with 85.80 %, 84.50 %, and 82.20 %
respectively.
Table 2 shows the individual effects of water level and wick length
inside the pipe on the discharge of hanging wick. The maximum mean
discharge was recorded as 12.1 ml/hr at 9 cm while the minimum mean
discharge was recorded as 7.7 ml/hr at 5 cm for different water levels
inside the pipe. Moreover, the maximum mean discharge was recorded
as 11.0 ml/hr at 11 cm while the minimum mean discharge was recor­
ded 8.8 ml/hr at 7 cm for different wick lengths inside the pipe.
Furthermore, the water level and wick length inside the pipe were lin­
early correlated with the discharge of hanging wick with a strong cor­
relation of R2 = 0.9993 and R2 = 0.9973 respectively.
Table 3 shows the individual effects of water level, pot size, wick

ETc= KcETo (8) Table 1

Water Absorption Pattern of tested wick material.
Where, ETc = crop evapotranspiration, Kc = crop coefficient and ETo
Type of Wick Material Water Rise /Capillarity action MCH (cm) WHC (%)
= reference evapotranspiration. Crop coefficient was adopted from
in cm
(Anon, 2016). Based on ET and Pot size, the required discharge was
Times in Minutes
estimated using wick discharge linear curve (WDLC) and finally, dis­
charges were calculated for selected crop using wick discharge Eq. 0 60 120 180
solver. GBM 0 4b 6b 8b 8b 84.50b
CM 0 3c 4c 6c 6c 82.20c
3. Results CNW 0 7a 11a 20a 20a 85.80a

Mean with different letters within columns are significantly different from
The wick materials differed considerably in water absorption Tukey’s HSD (p > 0.05).

4
S.J. Roonjho et al. Agricultural Water Management 274 (2022) 107927

Table 2 other factors that have been shown to have a direct effect on discharge of
Mean discharge of hanging wick at different water level and wick length inside wick i.e. size of PVC pipe (diameter), water level inside pipe, wick length
the pipe. inside pipe, distance between water level and top edge of the PVC pipe in
Treatments Discharge ml/hr R2 both hanging and buried wicks and pot size etc. in buried wick. There­
Water Level Inside Pipe 5 cm 7.7 0.9993
fore, based on this observation the hc was replaced with fc (controlling
6 cm 8.9 factors) and wick emitter discharge equations (Eq. 9 and Eq.10) were
7 cm 9.9 developed with a correlation of maximum possible discharge controlling
8 cm 11.1 factors.
9 cm 12.1
Wick Length Inside Pipe 7 cm 8.8 0.9973 qe= 2⋅383 fc0.369 for hanging (9)
9 cm 10.0
11 cm 11.0 qe= 3⋅961 fc0.327 for buried (10)

where, qe is emitter discharge (ml/hr) and fc is controlling factors. To

find out fc two equations were further developed for hanging (Eq.11)
Table 3
Mean discharge of buried wick at different water level, wick length inside the and for buried (Eq. 12).
pipe, initial moisture contents and pots size.
fc= WL × h for hanging (11)
Treatments Discharge ml/hr R2 ( ps )
Water level 5 cm 8.9 0.9985
fc = WL × h for buried (12)
12
6 cm 10.1
7 cm 11.2 where, fc is controlling factor, WL is water level inside the pipe (cm) and
8 cm 12.2
ps is pot size in volume (liters) and 12 is constant which will remain the
9 cm 13.2
Pots size 3L 8.7 0.9955 same and h is height (cm) which can be determined as per Eq.13.
6L 10.9
12 L 13.8 h=Lw–D (13)
Wick length 7 cm 10.0 0.9901
9 cm 11.2 Where, h is for height and Lw is wick length used inside the pipe (cm)
11 cm 12.2 and D is a distance which can be measured by Eq. 14.
Moisture contents 10 % 11.4
20 % 10.9 D= TD - WL (14)

length, and initial moisture contents on the discharge of buried wick.
Where, the maximum mean discharge 13.2 ml/hr at 9 cm and the
minimum mean discharge 8.9 ml/hr at 5 cm for different water levels
inside the pipe. Likewise, the maximum mean discharge 13.8 ml/hr in
12 L and the minimum mean discharge 8.7 ml/hr in 3 L for different pot
size. Moreover, the maximum mean discharge of 12.2 ml/hr at 11 cm
and the minimum mean discharge of 10.0 ml/hr at 7 cm for different
wick lengths inside the pipe. Furthermore, the lower mean discharge of
10.9 ml/hr in 20 % as compared to 11.4 ml/hr in 10% initial water was
recorded. Moreover, linear effects of water level, pot size and wick
length on discharge of buried wick was R2 = 0.9985, R2 = 0.9955 and R2
= 0.9901 respectively.
Fig. 4 shows the effects of initial volumetric contents on the
discharge of buried wick for 24 h with interval of six hours. The effects
of initial volumetric contents were observed with the increase of water
contents by decreasing in discharge of buried wick over time.
The equations developed by Muhammad (2015) to estimate the wick
discharge was dealing with the capillary height of wick emitter (distance
from the water level to the top edge of PVC pipe) and having reverse
relation of capillary height and discharge. However, there are some
Where, TD is for total diameter of pipe (cm) and WL is for water level
(cm).
To make it further easy a wick discharge equation solver was
developed to solve the equation, the solver can also be used to develop a
wick discharge equation for other wick materials (Fig. 5).
The wick width does have impact on discharge (Kang et al., 2009),
but it was not considered in the equation developed as the only wick
available in the market was 10 mm wide which had sufficient discharge
for most crops grown in greenhouse (Muhammad, 2015).
3.1. Relationship of discharge, ET, water level and pot size under
greenhouse conditions
Fig. 6 shows the relationship of discharge, ET, water level and pot
size. The highest discharge was recorded as 19.9 ml/hr in pot size 12 L
(volume) at 75 % water level and 6.04 mm ET while the lowest
discharge was recorded 5.5 ml/hr in pot size 3 L (volume) at 50 % of
water level and 3.78 mm ET. The results of laboratory experiments have
already proven the linear effects of the water level and pot size on the
discharge of buried wick irrigation and the results under greenhouse
conditions shown almost the same effects of pot size and water level on
the discharge of buried wick. However, it was noticed that the ET also
affected the discharge of buried wick, with increases in ET linearly
increasing the discharge of buried wick under greenhouse. The evapo­
transpiration linearly affected the discharge of buried wick at R2 0.947,
0.900 and 0.872 in 3 L, 6 L, and 12 L pot size respectively at 50% water
level. Whilst at 75% water level R2 was 0.857, 0.905 and 0.888 in 3 L,
6 L and 12 L pot size respectively.
Table 4 shows the estimated discharge of buried wick using a wick
emitter discharge equation and compared with the actual mean of
measured discharge in the greenhouse. It can be seen that the estimated
discharge is very close to the mean measured discharge. The results
proved that the wick discharge equation works properly, and discharge
can be estimated using a wick discharge equation.

Fig. 4. : Effects of initial water contents on the discharge of buried wick.

5
S.J. Roonjho et al. Agricultural Water Management 274 (2022) 107927

Fig. 5. Simulation of wick discharge using solver.

recommended pot size are known. Furthermore, estimated discharges

12L (50%) 12L (75%) 6L (50%) 6L (75%) 3L (50%) 3L (75%)
were calculated using wick equation solver, basically the equation solver
20
is for estimating the discharge of wick emitter by putting known con­
ditions (wick length and water level inside pipe, and diameter of pipe for
16 hanging and adding pot size too for buried), but it also can be used to
Discharge (ml/hr)

estimate the required conditions to achieve the desired discharge.

12
Moreover, it can be seen in Table 5 that required discharge for each
selected crop can be achieved with a single wick emitter using different
pipe size, water level, and wick length. So, the results revealed that the
8
single emitter can be sufficient for eggplants, cabbage, cauliflower,
strawberries, and sweet peppers if grown in a greenhouse under wick
4 irrigation system. Additionally, the wick discharge equation solver and
3.7 3.9 4.1 4.3 4.5 4.7 4.9 5.1 5.3 5.5 5.7 5.9 6.1
wick discharge linear curve successfully suggest the required wick
ET (mm)
discharge conditions for selected crop under wick irrigation based on ET
Fig. 6. Wick discharge ml/hr at 4.5 cm (50%) and 6.75 (75%) water level in and recommended pot size.
3 L, 6 L and 12Lpot size (volume) under different ET.
4. Discussion
3.2. Estimation of wick discharge for different crops
Selection of wick material is the most important factor for the
The wick discharge linear curve (Fig. 7) was developed based on the establishment of capillary wick irrigation system (Wesonga et al., 2014).
results obtained from the greenhouse experiment. The required dis­ Water holding capacity and maximum capillary action are the key fac­
charges for selected crops under a capillary wick irrigation system tors to evaluate the best wick material since they are self-watering
(buried) were estimated based on ET and recommended pot size using sub-irrigation systems using wick to absorb water (So et al., 2003; Son
wick discharge linear curve. The WDLC is based on the correlation of ET, et al., 2006). In the current study, two local materials gunny bag ma­
pot size and discharge so the required discharge for any crop under terial (GBM) and cotton cloth material CM were compared with im­
buried wick irrigation system can be easily estimated if the ET and ported cotton bonded non-woven wick (CNW). The results revealed

6
S.J. Roonjho et al. Agricultural Water Management 274 (2022) 107927

Table 4
Comparison of estimated and measured discharge of Buried wick ml/hr at 50% and 75% water level in 3 L, 6 L and12 L.
Pot Size (Volume) Water Level

4.5 cm (50%) 6.75 cm (75%)

Estimated Measured Difference (%) Estimated Measured Difference (%)

3L 8.0 7.9 1.3 9.9 10.2 2.9

6L 10.0 9.4 6.0 12.4 12.2 1.6
12 L 8.0 7.9 1.3 9.9 10.2 2.9

factors on wick discharge and their relation. This relation among the
Linear () Linear () Linear ()
25
discharge and discharge controlling factors were used for the develop­
ment of wick emitter discharge equations. Wick Emitter discharge
20 equation was developed by replacing capillary height (hc) (Muhammad,
2015) with controlling factors (fc). In this regard, a series of equations
were developed to find out fc. Furthermore, wick discharge equation
Discharge (ml/hr)

15
10
5 and hanging wicks. However, pot size (L) is also required to estimate the
0 to develop a wick discharge equation for other wick materials (emitters)
2.8 3 3.2 3.4 3.6 3.8 4 4.2 4.4 4.6 4.8
ET (mm/day)
Fig. 7. : Wick discharge linear curve for estimating required discharge for
potted crops under CWIS based on ET.
significant difference among all tested material for MCH and WHC. CNW
had 20 cm MCH and 85.8 % WHC and these results are very close to
findings from previous studies, 14–19 cm (Wesonga et al., 2014) and
19 cm (Muhammad, 2015). While the poor performance was recorded in
CL. In previous studies, other materials were tested as wick emitter i.e.,
bonded non-woven fabric (So et al., 2003), blanket material (Wesonga
et al., 2014), polyester capillary mat (Chanseetis et al., 2001) and rolled
polyester cloth. However, CNW material reveals best attribute for
capillary wick irrigation system therefore recommended as best suitable
wick emitter.
Results obtained from laboratory experiment revealed the linear ef­
fects of water level and wick length on the discharge of buried and
hanging wick. Similarly, the effects of pot size and initial moisture
contents on the discharge of buried wick were also linear. These results
were in line with the findings of an previous studies conducted by
(Muhammad, 2015; Muhammad and Rowshon, 2015) who reported the
significant effects of wick length and initial moisture contents on wick
discharge. However, till the date no study has been conducted to eval­
uate the effects of water level and pot size on wick discharge. As the wick
emitters supply water continuously through absorption and gravity, so
the pot size and initial moisture contents are important factors to be
studied. Effects of size and types of pots on efficacy of subirrigation was
also reported in previous studies (Bailey et al., 2014; Beeks and Evans,
2013). Besides that, pot size directly affects plant leaf area, shoot
biomass and root biomass (Poorter et al., 2012; Gallegos et al., 2020).
Therefore, this study was designed to evaluate the effects of all possible
solver was developed, which can easily solve wick discharge equation by
putting required data into it, i.e. total pipe (diameter in cm), wick length
inside the pipe (cm), and the water level inside the pipe (cm) for buried
discharge of buried wick (CNW). Noticeably, the solver can also be used
as well by adding some additional information.
5 5.2 5.4 5.6 5.8 6 6.2 6.4 6.6 6.8 7 7.2
The results also showed that the estimated discharge using wick
emitter discharge equation is closely matched to the mean of measured
discharge in the greenhouse. Hence, it proved that the discharge of wick
emitter (CNW) can be successfully estimated using wick emitter
discharge equation. Moreover, the recorded discharge for potted to­
matoes in glasshouse was ranged from 132 to 478 ml/day in different
arrangements of capillary wick irrigation system, while, Salokhe et al.
(2005) reported maximum water requirements for drip irrigated to­
matoes under glasshouse in the tropics is 400 ml/day. The effects of
evapotranspiration on the discharge of buried wick revealed that with
an increase in ET linearly increases the discharge. This relation between
discharge and ET helped to create a wick discharge linear curve for
estimating required discharge under CWIS for different crops based on
ET and pot size. Basically, the water needed for metabolic need of the
plant is negligible therefore ET can be considered as equal to
consumptive use of water by plants. Salama (2011) and Ewaid et al.
(2019) stated that crop water requirement is the amount of water
required to compensate the evapotranspiration loss from plants there­
fore it is an important consideration to improve water use efficiency. The
study also showed that using a wick discharge linear curve and wick
equation solver, the required conditions of wick irrigation system for
any greenhouse crop can be easily estimated. Moreover, results inferred
that the required discharge under wick irrigation system for the above
selected crops can be achieved using single wick emitter.
5. Conclusion
The cotton-bonded non-woven wick material has higher maximum
capillary and water holding capacity i.e., 20 cm and 85.80% respec­
tively over the other tested materials, thus, identified as best wick

Table 5
Estimated wick discharge for different crops and recommended wick discharge conditions.
Selected Crop Egg plant Cabbage Cauliflower Strawberries Sweet peppers

Calculated ET mid (mm/day) 4.2 3.9 3.9 3.2 4.6

Recommended Optimum Pot size (L) 12 12 12 12 6
Required Discharge (ml/hr) 15.21 14.38 14.38 12.5 11.7
Pipe Size (mm dia) 70 110 60 100 60 100 50 80 60 80
Water Level (mm) 70 110 60 100 60 100 50 80 60 80
Wick Length (mm) 90 140 90 130 90 130 70 110 90 100
Estimated Discharge ml/hr (buried) 15.3 20.5 14.6 19.4 14.6 19.4 12.7 17.0 11.6 12.0
Discharge ml/hr (hanging) 11.0 15.3 10.4 14.4 10.4 14.4 8.8 12.5 10.4 13.2
No. of wick Emitter(s) 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

7
S.J. Roonjho et al.
material for the wick irrigation system. The discharge of selected wick
material (CNW) in buried and hanging wick were linearly affected by
wick length inside pipe and water level inside the pipe. Whilst discharge
of buried wick was linearly affected by pot size. These relations led to
successfully development of a new discharge equation for both wick
irrigation systems. However, the measured discharges under laboratory
condition were higher in buried wick as compared to hanging wick.
Therefore, based on these results, the preference has given to the buried
wick for further investigation under glasshouse for potted tomatoes and
the relation among the evapotranspiration, size of pots and water level
inside pipe were observed. The glasshouse experiment also proved the
results obtained in the laboratory, to investigate the effects of water
level and wick length inside the pipe. Furthermore, wick discharge
linear curve and wick equation solver were successfully developed to
estimate the water and emitter requirement for other vegetable crops
under the wick irrigation system.
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial
interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence
the work reported in this paper.
Data Availability
Data will be made available on request.
Acknowledgment
The authors wish to acknowledge the Universiti Putra Malaysia
(UPM) for providing funding for this research (PutraGrant No. 9678600)
and Farm Operation and Maintenance Unit, Faculty of Agriculture for
providing an experimental plot.
References
Al-Mayahi, A., Al-Ismaily, S., Al-Maktoumi, A., Al-Busaidi, H., Kacimov, A., Janke, R.,
Bouma, J., Simnek, J., 2020. A smart capillary barrier-wick irrigation system for
home gardens in arid zones. Irrig. Sci. 38, 235–250. https://doi.org/10.1007/
s00271-020-00666-3.
AnonFood and Agriculture Organization (2009) Cropwat 8.0 for windows user guide.
Rome, Italy.
AnonFood and Agriculture Organization (2016) Crop evapotranspiration - Guidelines for
computing crop water requirements, Natural Resources Management and
Environment Department. Available at: 〈http://www.fao.org/docrep/X0490E/x0
490e0b.htm〉 (Accessed: 25 November 2016).
Bailey, D.A., Fonteno, W.C. and Nelson, P.V. (2014). Greenhouse Substrates and
Fertilization. 4 Dec. 2014. 〈www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/floriculture/plugs/ghsubf
ert.pdf〉.
Bainbridge, D.A., 2002. Alternative irrigation systems for arid land restoration. Ecol.
Restor. 20 (1), 23–30.
Beeks, S.A., Evans, M.R., 2013. Physical properties of biocontainers used to grow long-
term greenhouse crops in an ebb-and-flood irrigation system. HortScience 48, 732
737.
Bhatt, N.J., Kanzariya, B.R., 2017. Experimental investigations on wick Irrigation: An
indigenous irrigation technique to suit small-land holders. Int. J. Adv. Eng. Res. Dev.
4 (8), 138–144. https://doi.org/10.21090/IJAERD.22713.
Brainbridge, D. (2014) Get started with more efficient irrigation systems., Irrigation,
water conservation, water harvesting. Available at: 〈http://permaculturenews.org〉.
(Accessed: 25 May 2016).
Catin, O., Kara, A., 2021. Assessment of water productivity using different drip irrigation
system for cotton. Agric. Water Manag. 223 (2019), 105693.
Agricultural Water Management 274 (2022) 107927
Chanseetis, C., Shinohara, Y., Takagaki, M., Maruo, T., Hohjo, M., Ito, T., 2001.
Application of capillary hydroponic system to the lettuce growing under tropical
climate conditions. Acta Hortic. 548, 401–408.
Chaturvedi, A.K., Surendran, U., Chandran, K.M., Dhanya, T., 2021. Exploring growth,
physiological status, yield and water use efficiency of vegetables grown under wick
method of irrigation. Plant Physiol. Rep. 26 (1), 64–73.
Dolar, S.G., Keeney, D.R., 1971. A self-watering system for growing plant in potted soils.
Agron. J. 64, 334–336.
Ewaid, S.H., Abed, S.A., Ansari, N., 2019. Crop water requirements and irrigation
scheduales for some major crops in southern Iraq. Water 11 (4), 756.
Fultariya, A., Prajapati, V., Parmar, M., 2017. A review: experimental investigation on
capillary wick irrigation technique. Int. J. Adv. Eng. Res. Dev. 2348–4470, 1–3.
Gallegos, J., Alvaro, J., Urrestarazu, M., 2020. Container design affects shoot and root
growth of vegetable plants. Hort. Sci. 55 (6), 787–794.
Heidari, H., Zarei, Z., Muhammadi, K., 2022. Imroving water use efficiency and biomass
in maize, foxtail millet and bitter vetch by wick irrigation. Water 48 (3), 264–270. /
Jul 2022.
Helmut, G., 1972. Automatische dochbewa. Sserung Von gefa. Bversuchen. Arch. für
Acker- und Pflanzenbau und Bodenkd. 16, 185–198.
Joseph, G.M. (2010) Vegetable Gardening in containers: Agri Life Extentions, TAMU; E-
545,3–09. Available at: 〈http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/vegetable/files〉
(Accessed: 13 December 2016).
Kang, S.W., Seo, S.G., Pak, C.H., 2009. Capillary wick width and water level in channel
affects water absorption properties of growing media and growth of chrysanthemum
and poinsettia cultured in c-channel subirrigation system. Korean J. Hortic. Sci.
Technol. 27, 86–92.
Keller, J., Bliesner, R.D., 1990. Sprinkle and Trickle Irrigation. Van Nostrand Reinhold,
New York, N.Y.
Kirnak, H., Kaya, C., Tas, I., Higgs, D., 2001. The influence of water deficit on vegetative
growth, physiology, fruit yield and quality in eggplants. Bull. J. Plant Physiol. 27,
34–46 (Available at). 〈http://www.bio21.bas.bg/ipp/gapbfiles/v-27/01_3-4_34-46.
pdf〉.
Lee, C., So, I., Jeong, S., Huh, M., 2010. Application of subirrigation using capillary wick
system to pot production. J. Agric. Life 44 (3), 7–13.
Levidow, L., Daniele, Z., Rodrigo, M., Eduardo, V., Mladen, T., Alessandra, S., 2014.
Improving water-efficient irrigation: Prospects and difficulties of innovative
practices. Agric. Water Manag. 146 (C), 84. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.
agwat.2014.07.012.
Masuda, M., 2008. Innovative cultivation method using capillary wick covered with
water permeable root-barrier material. Agric. Hortic. 83, 8–12.
Million, J., Yeager, T., Larsen, C., 2007. Water use and fertilizer response of azalea using
several no-leach irrigation methods. Hort. Technol. 17, 21–25.
Muhammad, H.H. (2015) Modeling of capillary wick irrigation system for potted plant
and small scale plantation. Master’s Thesis, University Putra Malaysia.
Muhammad, H.H. and Rowshon, M.K. (2015) Hydraulic characteristics of capillary wick
irrigation system, 7th international conference on sustainable agriculture for food,
energy and industry in regional and global context, Universeti Putra Malaysia,
Serdang.
Poorter, H., Buhler, J., Dusschoten, D., Climent, J., Postma, A.J., 2012. Pot size matters: a
meta-analysis of the effects of rooting volume on plant growth. Funct. Plant Biol. 39,
839–850.
Rowshon, K.M., Muhammad, H.H., Abdul, M.M., Ruediger, A., Amin, M.S.M., 2019. Two-
dimensional modeling of water distribution under capillary wick irrigation system.
Pertanika J. Sci. Technol. 27 (1), 205–223.
Salama, M.A.A. (2011) Estimating water consuptive use for some crops under stress
conditions using neutron scattering in Agricultural Science ( Soil Science)’. Doctoral
thesis, Ain Shams University.
Salokhe, V., Babel, M., Tantau, H., 2005. Water requirement of drip irrigated tomatoes
grown in greenhouse in tropical environment. Agric. Water Manag. 71, 225–242.
Semananda, N., Ward, J., Myers, B., 2018. A semi-systematic review of capillary
irrigation: the benefits, limitations, and opportunities. Horticulturae 4 (3), 23.
https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae4030023.
So, I.S., Kang, H., Cho, K.H., Lee, C., 2003. Production of cyclamen suing capillary wick
system: influence of wick material and root substrates composition. J. Korean Flower
Res. Soc. 11 (2), 199–206.
Son, J.E., Oh, M.M., Lu, Y.J., Kim, K.S., Giacomelli, G.A., 2006. Nutrient-flow wick
culture system for potted plant production: System characteristics and plant growth.
Sci. Hortic. 107 (4), 392–398. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scienta.2005.11.001.
Wesonga, J.M., Wainaina, C., Ombwara, F.K., Masinde, P.W., Home, P.G., 2014. Wick
material and media for capillary wick based irrigation system in Kenya. Int. J. Sci.
Res. 3 (4), 613–617. https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2352-09.2009.