Identification of plant water status indicators for fig

M.J. Moñino, A. Vivas, C. Campillo, F. Chávez, M.H. Prieto
Fig is a traditional rainfed crop for which very little information is available on water requirements throughout the growing cycle. Under these circumstances, it is very useful to have indicators of both soil water availability and plant water status to support efficient irrigation scheduling. In 2022, a field experiment was stablished in a young orchard of ‘Calabacita’ in the Finca La Orden (Guadajira, Spain). The treatments are: control, irrigated to cover the water needs of the crop; RDS at 60% of the control throughout the season and RD3, which received irrigation only until June (as the control). A drought cycle, DC, was carried out on trees outside the experimental plot but irrigated as the control treatment (outside the stress cycle). Soil temperature and water content at different depths and tree crown temperature were recorded automatically. Midday stem water potential and midmorning leaf stomatal conductance were measured manually at regular intervals. The RDS, RD3 and DC treatments received 63, 36 and 75% of the irrigation volume of the control, respectively. Both soil and plant measurements were able to detect differences between the different irrigation strategies. Stem water potential and leaf stomatal conductance measurements characterised the seasonal irrigation pattern and, in the case of DC, provided a rapid indication of tree stress and subsequent recovery. Canopy temperature differentiated Control from deficit treatments, but did not clearly differentiate deficit treatment patterns.
Moñino, M.J., Vivas, A., Campillo, C., Chávez, F. and Prieto, M.H. (2024). Identification of plant water status indicators for fig. Acta Hortic. 1405, 41-48
DOI: 10.17660/ActaHortic.2024.1405.4
https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2024.1405.4
Ficus carica, water use efficiency, irrigation scheduling, stem water potential, conductance
English
1405_4
41-48

Acta Horticulturae