Recommended Application in Avocado
BACKGROUND
The Avocado's origin is from the mountainous terrains of Central America. It's an evergreen tropical tree. Plantations are cultivated all over the world in humid tropical to arid subtropical regions; Each region has different types of cultivars. Avocado have poor adaption to hot and dry climates; High Vapor Pressure Deficit in the air (Dryness) will cause stress behavior which might, in sensitive growth stages, damage the yields. In the other range the tree does not tolerate freezing temperatures.
Avocado likes decomposed granite or sandy loam soils, with good drainage characters. Heavy soils (clay) have poor drainage, and then a danger of over-wetting exists. The tree show poor tolerance to salinity, particularly chloride.
Tree’s are highly sensitive to water availability; Relatively mild moisture stress can cause extensive fruit and leaf drop. While Over irrigation and prolonged over-saturated conditions might lead to impaired aeration of the upper soil layer where most of the tree's roots occur, and then increasing the tree's vulnerability to stress and root rot diseases.
In order to irrigate optimally, certain soil-water and climate-plant dynamics should be known; Knowledge will allow us to make the right decisions regarding our trees.
PYHTOMONITORING IN AVOCADO
After years of practice in avocado we realize that dendrometers give the most accurate and up-to-date picture of the tree's water status in avocado. Growers that integrate dendrometer data, with soil moisture and climate parameters, have the optimal information platform to understand and to react to the tree's needs.
What is a Dendrometer ?
Dendrometer - an electronic sensor mounted on the trunk of the tree and allows for continuous monitoring of changes in its trunk radius. Plant growth and water plant balance affect diurnal behavior of trunk radius. The growth rate depends on a vegetation stage, soil moisture and climatic conditions. The diurnal variations represent mostly fluctuations of water content in the plants.
Two parameters are commonly used for evaluating plant water status: daily contraction amplitude (DCA) and trend of daily growth.
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