Mar 20, 2021
Should the FloraPulse microtensiometer agree with the pressure chamber?
flora_admin
The Scholander Pressure Chamber, aka “pressure bomb”, has become the standard for measuring the water potential of plants, whether as exposed or shaded leaves, or as internal stem potential at a point of measurement. Leaves under natural conditions can be measured; but if leaves are bagged in plastic bags with foil to stop transpiration and […]
Mar 18, 2021
Drawbacks of ET irrigation scheduling
flora_admin
A recent irrigation seminar from the University of California and the Almond Board discussed various methods to determine when/how to irrigate crops. There are 3 main methods: weather-based, soil-based, and plant-based. The most widely used method is weather based evapotranspiration (ET), which estimates the amount of water used by the plants. ET serves as a […]
Mar 05, 2021
Two years of 24/7 water potential – Napa Valley Cabernet
flora_admin
FloraPulse sensors have been installed for almost two years in a high-end vineyard in Napa Valley. They still show great, accurate stem water potential readings. This is the longest continuous water potential dataset ever recorded. You might be tasting this wine in a couple of years! First irrigation block 24/7 water potential data This graph […]
Mar 05, 2021
FloraPulse sensors in Chile! Prune, cherry and grape.
flora_admin
For the curious, here is data from FloraPulse sensors installed with our partner OLIVOS riego in prune, cherry and grape. The sensors were installed in Chile and have been running splendidly for 2-3 months now, and compare favorably with the pressure chamber. Plots below show the midday stem water potential (midday SWP, black lines) data […]
Mar 01, 2021
Isn’t Soil Moisture Good Enough to Estimate Crop Stress?
flora_admin
For decades growers and researchers have used soil moisture to guide irrigation of crops. It is logical that since plants get their water from the soil. But does the soil moisture really give a good estimate of the water status of the crop? Sometime yes, and sometimes no. There are several reasons for that especially […]