"Continual data recording provided invaluable information on water use and irrigation penetration in Australia's only commercial Gladioli corm production system."
- James De Barro
Sentek EnviroSCAN Plus probes were placed in line with sub-surface irrigation and in between dripper lines in Gladioli grown in sand over clay soil at Wolsely in South Australia. Gladioli are grown from corms for the production of corms for domestic trade. The quality EnviroSCAN Plus soil moisture data assisted in determining irrigation depth for the growing corms as well as frequency. Data was viewed on the Alpha Group Consulting website and downloaded into IrriMAX for graph production.
Significant new knowledge was gained in 2008/09 season which gave the grower confidence to install a 4 probe RT6 system for the 2009/10 season. On the basis of data collected in 2008/09 future probes are to be installed between rows and adjacent to emitters. The nature of the data permits strategic irrigation delivery to match the growing Gladioli demand. The quality of the system permits quick determination of irrigation infiltration depths, better understanding of lateral water movement and development of accurate irrigation delivery schedules.
