Project Number: 1915-62660-002-04
Project Type: Reimbursable

Start Date: May 01, 2008
End Date: Apr 30, 2013

Objective:
To develop efficient water management practices for wild blueberry production.

Approach:
Weighing lysimeters will be used to determine rates of net water vapor deposition, drainage, and evapotranspiration in both phases of the two year blueberry cropping cycle. These measurements will be made at several sites selected to represent a range in climate and soil properties to quantify the effects of fog, temperature, and soil water holding capacity on lowbush blueberry water requirement and yield across the primary wild blueberry production region of the United States. Weather stations maintained at each site will be used to monitor macro- and microclimatic parameters of importance to this evaluation. In addition, an on-going water management study will be continued for comparing water management scenarios on blueberry yield. Treatments consist of A) Rain-fed only, B) Irrigation in the fruit-bearing year, and C) Irrigation in both the fruit-bearing and non-fruit-bearing years. An installation of time domain reflectometry soil water content and leaf wetness sensors (four inside and four outside of lysimeters) will be used to determine changes in soil water storage in the root zone. Data collected for the study will include volumetric soil water content, soil matric potential, daily evapotranspiration, daily weather parameters including visibility, and daily pan evaporation. Yield samples will be collected for all treatments.