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Trickle Irrigation and Fertilization of Tomatoes in Sand Dunes: Water, N, and P Distributions in the Soil and Uptake by Plants¹

Trickle irrigation has a special advantage in sandy soils where the accurate control of water and ions in the plant's root volume is critical. The purpose of the present work was to investigate the simultaneous migration of water and nutrients from a drip source in the field, to study the plant's response to various moisture and concentration distributions in the soil and to define optimal conditions for maximum yields.

Tomato plants (Lycopersicum esculentum Mill.) grown in a field of fine sand received various daily rates of water, N, and P applied through a trickle irrigation system. Highest fruit yield (about 110 tons/ha) was obtained, when the daily average water content in the soil root volume was about 5% (w/w), the N concentration in the soil solution 140 ± 40 ppm N, and the N uptake rate about 100 mg N plant^–1day^–1. The estimated daily water consumption by the plants varied between 0.4 and 1.0 liter plant^–1day^–1, depending on the plants leaf area a id climatic conditions. The estimated water quantity used to produce 1 g dry matter was similar in all the treatments — about 250 ± 40 g H₂O/g d.m.

Key Words: N, P, Uptake — soil solution • Tomato yield

² Soil scientist, Division of Soil Chemistry and Plant Nutrition, ARO, Bet Dagan, Israel.

Received for publication December 24, 1975.