- Author: Michael D Cahn
- Shared by: Mark Bolda
Growers follow a number of strategies for managing nitrogen during the early season. Some apply almost half of the seasonal nitrogen required by strawberry as preplant fertilizer before transplanting while others skip preplant fertilizer or use a reduced rate (Fig. 1). Others use controlled release fertilizers while some growers opt for conventional fertilizer products. These decisions are based on grower experience, cultivar, soil type, and anticipated weather conditions. The following are a few concepts on early season N management for strawberry to consider as we enter a new season.
On the central coast the N needs of strawberry are quite...
- Author: Aliasghar Montazar
- Author: Michael D Cahn
- Author: Alexander Putman
Spinach is a fast-maturing, cool-season vegetable crop. In California, most conventional and organic spinach fields are irrigated by sprinkler irrigation. However, sprinkler irrigation could contribute to the speed and severity of downy mildew epidemics, as the most important disease in spinach, within a field when other conditions such as temperature are favorable.
Although fungicides are available for the control of downy mildew in conventional production systems, products with similar efficacy are not available for organic spinach. Adapting drip irrigation for high-density spinach plantings may be a possible solution to reduce yield losses from downy mildew and enhance resource-use efficiency in organic spinach...
- Author: Richard Smith
- Author: Michael D Cahn
During the past two years acreage of season-long drip in lettuce has increased rapidly in the Salinas and adjacent valleys. Using drip for the entire crop cycle allows growers to germinate seeded crops with buried tape (Photo 1), and eliminates labor needed for installing and removing sprinklers. The rapid expansion of this irrigation practice is due to 1) reliable thin-walled single-use drip tape which assures high application uniformity for less cost than thick walled tape; 2) Better injection equipment that can uniformly place drip tape 2-3 inches below the soil surface allowing cultivation without damaging the tape (Photo 2), and 3) development of tape removal equipment that saves labor and efficiently bundles the tape for...
- Author: Michael D. Cahn
- Author: David Chambers
A tensiometer is a very useful tool for monitoring soil moisture status of vegetable and berry crops. Compared to other sensors that often require equipment such as dataloggers or a computer to collect readings, tensiometers can be easily read by irrigators in the field. Also, tensiometer readings are not affected by variations in soil texture, temperature, and salinity and they can operate without electricity (no batteries needed).
What is tension? Tensiometers measure soil moisture in units of negative pressure also known as tension. Tension is a measure of the force that plant roots need to exert to pull water from the soil pores. Large pores hold water with less force...
