Post-Harvest Irrigation
Post-Harvest Irrigation It is finally here: Harvest season! It is time to collect the product of your hard work. After many months of constant work, stress and having to deal with unexpected events, vacation and family time often becomes the next priorities for many growers. As though, these are as important, if not more, there […]
Mid-Season Tactics for Soil Rehydration in Mature Almonds
In years when heat waves occur in Early May and June, it is important to ensure that the soil profile maintains adequate moisture for your orchard to utilize. This can be dramatically different for every orchard depending on field characteristics. However, for most growers this means being able to percolate water at least 12” to […]
Drought Management Strategies for Young Orchards
New plantings can be tricky especially in a year where water quality and quantity are low. Ensuring that your trees are well taken care off can become a balancing act while combating hot weather, mitigating various salts and providing the correct amount of water for transpiration. As stewards of the land, we are very aware […]
Reducing ‘Flame Seedless’ Berry Cracking Through Soil Tension Management
After a long, hot summer one of the most frustrating issues for any California table grape grower is berry cracking at harvest. Berry cracking can occur in many varieties. However, the ‘Flame Seedless’, the earliest Central Valley variety harvested, is notorious for berry cracking. There are many different factors that can cause berry cracking such […]
Using soil tension to measure key states of soil moisture
Often, in science, when things aren’t fully understood, rules are chosen without real evidence. They are created to help give a benchmark to make research possible. These would best be described as “let’s assume” rules. Research only occurs when variables are controlled, but sometimes variables can’t be controlled or even measured with accuracy. In these […]
Soil tension’s relationship to soil type & salts
What is soil tension and how is it measured? Soil tension is the amount of force necessary to remove a water molecule from a soil particle to allow for uptake by a plant’s root system. This force is often measured in kilopascals (kpa) or centibars (cbar). For reference, 1 kilopascal = 1 centibar = 0.01 […]
