Project Number: 3607-21620-006-05
Project Type: Specific Cooperative Agreement

Start Date: Sep 26, 2003
End Date: Aug 31, 2008

Objective:
Determine the amount of leachate in pot-in-pot nurseries due to different levels of drop irrigation and rainfall; determine levels of nutrient and pesticide residues in leachate with various irrigation schedules and pesticide spray application methods; determine the relationship between the amount of irrigation and soil moisture content in individual pots before and after leaching of water.

Approach:
In cooperation with the ARS Application Technology Research Unit, Wooster, OH, perform the following: An experimental system will be established in a plot in Willoway Nurseries, Inc. The system will contain leaching collection devices, soil moisture probes and pot-in-pot trees. Factors to be examined in this study will be: total amount of irrigation, rainfall and leachate from the plot; start and stop times for leaching; types of trees; types of soil; soil moisture content; soil temperature; and chemical residue levels. Precipitation and other conditions will be observed with a weather station. Water samples from the leaching will be collected weekly, and chemical residues in samples will be analyzed in the laboratory. After multi-test results are obtained, a potentially automatic irrigation control system will be proposed or developed for pot-in-pot tree nurseries with the best scheduling management of irrigation and pesticide application to be used in models to provide best management practices.