Proc. Fla. State Hort. Soc. 116:37-41. 2003.

MONITORING SOIL WATER CONTENT FOR IRRIGATION SCHEDULING IN A CARAMBOLA ORCHARD IN A GRAVELLY LIMESTONE SOIL
RASHID AL-YAHYAI AND BRUCE SCHAFFER1 University of Florida, IFAS Tropical Research and Education Center 18905 SW 280 Street Homestead, FL 33031 FREDERICK S. DAVIES University of Florida, IFAS Department of Horticultural Sciences P.O. Box 110690 Gainesville, FL 32611-10690 Additional index words. Averrhoa carambola, capacitance probes, neutron probe, tensiometers Abstract. Multisensor capacitance probes, tensiometers, and a neutron probe were used for assessing soil water content for scheduling irrigation in an 8-year-old carambola (Averrhoa carambola L.) orchard in Krome very gravelly loam soil in south Florida. Four irrigation treatments were applied when soil water content reached four different moisture set points expressed in terms of percentage of field capacity as determined with multisensor capacitance probes. The tensiometers and neutron probe gave a good estimation of absolute soil water content. The use of tensiometers was limited to a maximum soil water tension of 20 cbar due to air entry into the water column of the tensiometer and water column discharge. The use of a neutron probe by growers is not practical because its radioactive source requires health and safety monitoring, and it is also labor intensive. Soil water content determined automatically and continuously with multisensor capacitance probes and computer software designed for irrigation scheduling can be a practical method of irrigation scheduling in gravelly limestone soils. However, capacitance probes are relatively expensive, labor intensive to install and maintain and gave variable readings of absolute water content among sensors in the same treatment. However, the rate of soil water depletion was consistent among probes. Since irrigation scheduling with multisensor capacitance probes is based on the rate of soil water depletion rather than the absolute soil water content, this method may be an effective tool for scheduling irrigation in orchards with Krome very gravelly loam soil. To achieve this, the pre-set soil water depletion rate at which to irrigate must be related to plant vigor, growth and yield. There are approximately 100 ha of carambolas in Florida (J. H. Crane, University of Florida, personal communication), of which 46 ha are in Miami-Dade County (Degner et al., 2002). A sweet-type, Arkin, is the leading commercial carambola cultivar in Florida (Campbell, 1989; Crane, 1989; Crane, 1994; Lamberts and Crane, 1990; Nez-Elisea and Crane, 1998). Scheduling irrigation is vital for commercial carambola production in south Florida where most of the annual rainfall occurs during the summer months. In 2001 86% and in 2002, 79% of total rainfall occurred during the summer between May and October (Fig. 1). During the winter months, irrigation is essential to compensate for the lack of rainfall. Irrigation is also required to compensate for the lack of water between unevenly distributed rainfall events within a month. Excessive soil water content (Joyner and Schaffer, 1989) and drought (Ismail and Noor, 1996; Ismail et al., 1996; Salakpetch et al., 1990) have adverse effects on carambola growth and yield. The soil of the Miami-Dade County, where carambola is cultivated, is composed primarily of calcium carbonate (Degner et al., 1997) and classified as Krome very gravelly loam. This is a very shallow, mineral soil with a high pH of 7.4-8.4 (Noble et al., 1996). This soil is extremely low in organic matter and commercial farming largely depends on fertilizer applications (Degner et al., 2002). The high demand for fertilizer coupled with excessive irrigation creates a potential for agrochemical leaching into the groundwater (MuozCarpena et al., 2002; Zekri et al., 1999). In addition to reducing potential agrochemical leaching, scheduling irrigation to apply only the amount of water required by the plant should increase grower returns by reducing fertilizer and water inputs, and improving plant growth and yields. A survey by Li et al. (2000) in 1998 showed that 73% of tropical fruit growers in Miami-Dade County schedule irrigation based on the frequency and quantity of rain. The percentage has declined to 64.3% in 2002 according to a more recent survey by Muoz-Carpena et al. (2003). Monitoring of soil moisture for irrigation scheduling has increased to include 48.8% of the respondents to the 2002 water-use survey (Muoz-Carpena et al., 2003) compared to only 15% in 1998 (Li et al., 2000). According to the 1998 survey, methods of soil moisture determination included tensiometers, capacitance probes, digging and squeezing soil, and the feel and appearance of the soil (Li et al., 2000). The variability of duration and frequency of irrigation was high among tropical fruit growers, which highlights the need for a better understanding of irrigation requirements of these crops. With overhead, high-volume sprinklers, irrigation was applied from one to three times per week for one to 12 h per application (Li et al., 2000). For microsprinklers, the frequency of operation was variable from 0.5 to 7.5 h per application and from one to seven applications per week. The amount of water applied per tree ranged from 110 to 2302 L with overhead sprinklers, 19 to 341 L per tree with microsprinklers, and from 7.6 to 45 L per tree for drip irrigation (Li et al., 2000). The variability in responses to irrigation quantities and frequencies used by growers can be attributed to the lack of basic quantitative information. Tensiometers, neutron probes, and capacitance probes directly or indirectly monitor soil water content and are often used for irrigation scheduling. Tensiometers measure soil suction or matric water potential rather than soil water content (Richards, 1942; Smajstrla and Harrison, 1998). A soil water retention curve must be established to determine the 37

The authors thank Drs. Jonathan Crane, Yuncong Li and Rafael MuozCarpena for critical review of this manuscript. The authors also thank Angel Colls for assistance with installation of the capacitance probe system and Osvany Rodriguez for orchard maintenance. This research was supported by the Florida Agricultural Experiment Station, and approved for publication as Journal Series No. N-02362. 1Corresponding author.

Proc. Fla. State Hort. Soc. 116: 2003.

Fig. 1. Total monthly rainfall and evapotranspiration (ET) during 2001 and 2002 in Homestead, Fla. Source: Florida Automated Weather Network, IFAS, University of Florida, Gainesville.

soil water content that corresponds to the water matric potential in order to estimate soil water content with a tensiometer. The neutron probe is a portable compact unit that is easy to operate and volumetric soil water content can be obtained instantly at different depths of the soil profile. Neutron probes are considered more accurate than other soil water status monitoring devices for irrigation scheduling (Evett and Steiner, 1995; Mostert and Hoffman, 1996). The main component of a neutron probe is a fast neutron source encased in a protective shield and an electronic counting scaler which are connected by an electric cable that is also used to lower the probe into an access tube to determine soil moisture content throughout the soil profile (Chanasyk and Naeth, 1996). Neutrons with a high energy are emitted by a radioactive source, such as americium 241/beryllium, into the soil and are slowed down by collisions with nuclei, primarily hydrogen atoms (Gardner and Kirkham, 1952). The density of the resultant cloud of slow neutrons is a function of the soil water content (Chanasyk and Naeth, 1996). The number of fast neutrons that are slowed is detected and measured as a count rate per unit time (Gardner et al., 1991). The count rate is converted to volumetric water content using a calibration curve. Neutron probes measure soil volumetric water content as the percentage of water per volume of soil. Capacitance probes measure the soil water content based on the dielectric constant of the soil mixture (Paltineanu and Starr, 1997; Phene et al., 1990; Wu, 1998) a concept that was first proposed for soil monitoring by time domain reflectometry (TDR) (Topp et al., 1980). The dielectric constant of the soil is composed of the dielectric constants of water (80.4), soil particles (3-7) and air (1) (Paltineanu and Starr, 1997; Robinson and Dean, 1993; Starr and Paltineanu, 1998; Wu, 1998). Since the dielectric constant of the soil particles and 38

air are small and relatively constant compared to that of water, changes in the dielectric constant of the soil are a measure of the change in soil water content. The volumetric water content can be expressed either as a percentage or a depth of water (mm of water/10 cm of soil) (Nez-Elisea et al., 2001; Paltineanu and Starr, 1997; Starr and Paltineanu, 1998). The objective of this study was to evaluate and compare tensiometers, multisensor capacitance probes, and a neutron probe for accurately assessing soil water content for irrigation scheduling in a carambola orchard in Krome very gravelly loam soil.
Materials and Methods

The experiment was conducted in an orchard of 8-yearold Arkin carambola trees grafted onto open-pollinated Golden Star rootstock at the Tropical Research and Education Center in Homestead, Fla. Trees were spaced at 4.5 m within rows and 6.1 m between rows. Low-tension tensiometers (0 to 40 cbar) (Model LT; Irrometer Co., Inc., Riverside, Calif.) were calibrated prior to installation using a calibration vacuum chamber (Smajstrla and Pitts, 1997) to ensure that the water column in the tensiometer was air free, that there were no leaks, and to synchronize gauge readings among tensiometers. One tensiometer was installed 60 cm from the trunk of each of the three replicate trees in each of the four treatments (defined in the following section). Tensiometers were installed at a depth of 10 cm below the soil surface. Prior to installation, a hole was made in the soil, slightly larger in diameter than the tensiometer. A slurry, prepared with sieved Krome very gravelly loam soil mixed with water, was applied to the tensiometer hole to ensure that the ceramic cup of the tensiometer was in contact with the soil (Nez-Elisea Proc. Fla. State Hort. Soc. 116: 2003.

et al., 2001). Tensiometers were maintained regularly in the field using a hand-pump and water was refilled whenever it drained from the tensiometer tube. For neutron probe measurements, one 85-cm long polyvinyl chloride (PVC) access tube was installed at 60 cm from the trunk of each of the three replicate trees in each of the four treatments. The neutron probe (Model 503DR, Campbell Pacific Nuclear, Inc., Martinez, Calif.) was placed in the access tubes and lowered to 10, 20, 30, and 50 cm depths below the soil surface. Neutron probe readings were taken from counts per 16 s at each depth. A multisensor capacitance probe system (EnviroSCAN, Sentek PTY Ltd., Kent Town, Australia) was used to automatically and continuously measure soil water content in each treatment. Prior to installation, data-loggers were configured in the laboratory following the procedure described by Paltineanu and Starr (1997). Sensors were normalized to air and water counts by placing the probe in a tube surrounded by water. One probe was installed inside a 74 cm-long PVC access tube at 60 cm from the trunk of each of the three replicate trees in each of the four treatments. Four sensors were placed in each probe at 10, 20, 30, and 50 cm below the soil surface. The PVC tubes were installed with a motorized drill and a slurry was then added to the hole. The slurry consisted of 2:1:1 by volume of calcareous rock, cement, and water to prevent air gaps from forming between the tubes and the surrounding soil (Nez-Elisea et al., 2001). The sensors in each probe were connected to a data-logger powered by a 12-volt battery charged with a solar panel. Data were recorded every 30 minutes and downloaded from the data-logger to a portable laptop computer and graphs of soil water depletion rates at each soil depth and location were created with the EnviroScan software. Trees were divided into four irrigation treatments based on the field capacity determined with the multisensor capacitance probes. Treatments were based on the rate of soil water depletion between the field capacity and the permanent wilting point of carambola trees (as measured with multisensor capacitance probes in a preliminary experiment). The treatments were: 100-92%, 91-89%, 88-86%, or 85-83% soil water depletion below field capacity. Treatments were randomly distributed in a completely randomized design with three replications per treatment. When the soil water content reached the treatment range, trees in the treatment were irrigated using microsprinklers (discharge rate = 89 Lhr-1) for one hour, which brought the soil water content to above field capacity. Data from the three instruments were compared and analyzed by linear and nonlinear regression and correlation tests.
Results and Discussion

A soil water retention curve was developed using the van Genuchten (1980) model:
( ) = r + ( s r ) [ 1 + ( ) n ] m

pacitance probes (Table 1). Matric potential measured with tensiometer fitted the van Genuchten model better when volumetric soil water content was measured with a neutron probe (r2 = 0.42) than with multi-sensor capacitance probes (r2 = 0.35) (Figs. 2 and 3, respectively). The fairly weak relationship between soil water tension and volumetric soil water content in Krome very gravelly loam soils can be attributed to the inaccuracy of tensiometer readings above a suction of 20 cbar and heterogeneity of very gravelly Krome soils (NezElisea et al., 2001). Tensiometers installed at 10 cm below the soil surface were not effective at a tension of above 20 cbar because air entered into the suction cup through the large pores in the gravel and produced inaccurate measurements or water discharged completely from the tensiometer. In a previous study, tensiometers installed at a 10 cm depth in Krome very gravelly loam soil in south Florida were successfully used to schedule irrigation of tomato (Li et al., 1998). In contrast, a previous study in tropical fruit orchards with the same soil showed that tensiometers were not effective in accurately estimating soil water potential at a depth of 30 cm below the soil surface (Nez-Elisea et al., 2001). The difference between the usefulness of tensiometers in the vegetable field and fruit orchard may have been a result of significantly larger soil particles in fruit orchards. In south Florida, vegetable fields are rock-plowed and repeatedly disked to break up the top layer of the soil (Colburn and Goldweber, 1961). Nez-Elisea et al. (2001) reported that the lack of effectiveness of tensiometers in tropical fruit orchards at a depth of 30 cm below the soil surface was attributed to the rockiness of Krome soil at that depth where 71 to 73% of the soil was gravel compared to 26% to 38% at in top 10 cm. Similar relationship between tensiometer readings and capacitance probes readings were also observed in the present study. In a laboratory measured gravimetric water content and soil suction, Muoz-Carpena et al. (2002) reported that at soil suction above 10 cbar, water content in Krome very gravelly loam soil is relatively insensitive to tension changes, thus large changes in soil water tension reflect small changes in actual soil water content. In the present study, soil suction above 10 cbar resulted in variable tensiometer readings and discharge of the water column at above 20 to 30 cbar. Thus, tensiometers are not very useful for monitoring soil water content for irrigation scheduling in carambola orchards in Krome very gravelly loam soil. Volumetric soil water content determined with the neutron probe and capacitance probes were positively correlated at all depths (Fig. 4). However, the correlation was not very high, probably due to differences in the principles of operation of the devices, variability in soil microclimate around the access tubes, and the larger sphere of influence (volume of soil measured by the probe) measured by the neutron probe than for each capacitance sensor. Neutron probe measureTable 1. Fitted parameters of van Genuchten model (1980) used to describe soil water retention curve of Krome soil where soil water content was measured in a carambola orchard using neutron probe and multisensor capacitance probes. Parameters s r n m Neutron probe 0.4758 0.226 0.029 2.67 0.625 Capacitance probes 0.4758 0.229 0.0598 2.41 0.585

where is the matric potential (suction or water tension) r is the residual water contents, and s is the saturated water content, and , n, and m are fitting parameters directly dependant on the shape of the () curve. Parameters (i.e. r, s, , n, and m) for the van Genuchten model for soil water retention curve of Krome soil were obtained from the relationship between matric potential () measured by tensiometers and volumetric water content () determined by neutron and caProc. Fla. State Hort. Soc. 116: 2003.

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Fig. 2. Relationship between volumetric soil water content measured with a neutron probe and soil water tension measured with a tensiometer in a carambola orchard in Krome very gravelly loam soil. The response line was fitted using van Genuchten (1980) equation (r2 = 0.42).

Fig. 4. Relationship between soil water content (%) as measured by multisensor capacitance probes and a neutron probe in Krome very gravelly loam soil (r2 = 0.35).

ments close to the soil surface are not reliable (Chanasyk and Naeth, 1996; Cole, 1989; Gardner et al., 1991) due to escape of fast neutrons to the atmosphere (Cuenca, 1989) as a result of the height of the sphere of influence of neutron probes (approximately 20 cm; Chanasyk and Naeth, 1988). This explains the overestimation of soil water content observed in this study (Fig. 2) compared to values estimated by MuozCarpena et al. (2002) for the same soil. Of the three soil water monitoring devices we tested, variability among readings at different locations at the same depth were the lowest with the neutron probe [coefficient of variation (CV) = 11%] compared to tensiometers (CV = 17%) or capacitance probes (CV = 33%). Although neutron probe readings were less variable than those obtained from capacitance probe and tensiometers, its use is less practical for irrigation scheduling due to the radioactive source of fast neutrons which can cause health hazards if the neutron probe is not used properly. Moreover, neutron probes operation and transportation require permits and continuous monitoring for radiation leakage. Specific calibration is required for accurately assessing actual volumet-

Fig. 3. Relationship between volumetric soil water content measured with multisensor capacitance probes and soil water tension measured with a tensiometer in a carambola orchard in Krome very gravelly loam soil. The response line was fitted using van Genuchten (1980) equation (r2 = 0.35).

ric soil water content. The use of a neutron probe to monitor soil water content in Krome soil is labor intensive because it requires installation of several access tubes using motorizeddrill and the manual taking of readings over a large area at different depths in the soil profile. Furthermore, the initial cost of the instrument is very high compared to tensiometers. Several studies have shown that volumetric soil water content determined with multisensor capacitance probes was highly correlated with volumetric soil water content determined gravimetrically (Paltineanu and Starr, 1997) in Mattapex silt loam fine soil, in silty clay loam soils (Ould Mohamed et al., 1997), in fine sand soils of Florida (Morgan et al., 1999), and in weathered heterogeneous soils (Wu, 1998). For citrus orchards in Candler fine sand soil, multisensor capacitance probes provided accurate indications of soil moisture content which was useful for irrigation scheduling (Fares and Alva, 2000). It also has been proven a viable method of measuring soil water content for irrigation scheduling in avocado and Tahiti lime orchards in south Florida (Nez-Elisea et al., 2001; Nez-Elisea et al., 2000; Zekri et al., 1999). However, in the present study, there were often variable readings among sensors at the same depth receiving the same irrigation treatment. Inaccurate measurements of volumetric water content by capacitance probes were reported by Hanson and Peters (2000) in silty loam and silty clay soils in California, and Evett and Steiner (1995) in Amarillo fine sandy loam soil. Tomer and Anderson (1995) concluded that for coarse textured soils, changes in water content are difficult to detect using capacitance probes. Although not proven, we speculate that increased capacitance probe variability in Krome soil over time could be attributed to temperature extremes from the winter to the summer, soil wetness and drying cycles, long-term change in soil chemical and physical properties, and soil initial disturbance caused by trenches where tropical fruit trees are planted in Krome very gravelly loam soils. Air gaps and disturbance of soil around the probe may lead to a change in soil bulk density that can produce measurement errors (Paltineanu and Starr, 1997). Throughout this study, lightning had a devastating effect on electrical connections and capacitance sensors in carambola orchards even when the system was surge protected and a grounding rod was installed. At times, capacitance sensors briefly produced erroneous readings, such as sudden decreases in soil moisture readings, spikes, or discontinuous readings. However, the system generally recovered from these temporary disturbances. Variability of capacitance probe readings in this study can also be attributed to Proc. Fla. State Hort. Soc. 116: 2003.

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a low battery or a damaged solar panel and condensation of water vapor in the probes that adversely affected the sensor readings. To reduce water vapor condensation in access tubes, silica gel desiccants were frequently replaced but due to the large tube, this may not be sufficient to maintain a dry climate inside each probe. A major advantage of irrigation scheduling using capacitance probe is that it is based on the rate of soil water depletion rather than on the absolute water content. Therefore, it reflects the change of soil water content over time and also plant activity, specifically evapotranspiration (Zekri et al., 1999). Using Sentek EnviroSCAN software, the data are presented graphically and options are provided for the user to divide the display into separate zones to manage soil water content. Multisensor capacitance probe systems can be effective tools for irrigation scheduling if the cost of operation and maintenance is financially justified. In addition to tensiometers, neutron probes, and multisensor capacitance probes, there are several other methods of monitoring soil water status that include dielectric moisture sensors, volumetric water content measurement devices, and water suction devices that can be used for irrigation scheduling. Several of these devices are currently being tested for use in Krome very gravelly loam soils at the Tropical Research and Education Center in Homestead, Fla. Additionally, tree vigor, growth, and productivity need to be correlated with soil water content for accurate irrigation scheduling in orchards.
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