Distribution of water and salt in soil under trickle and pot irrigation regimes

An ellipitical clay pot was buried vertically in the centre of a lysimeter as a means of supplying water to the soil. The distribution of water and salt in the soil emerging from the pot source was compared with that under trickle irrigation. Five hundred milliequivalents of calcium chloride was applied to the soil by both methods. Calcium chloride was subsequently leached by applying 50 l of tap water. The soil solution was sampled periodically using suction cups. Soil samples were also taken for measurements of water content and chloride ion concentration. Water applied at the rate of 130 ml/h by the pot moved the salt to a radial distance of 41.5 cm in 390 h, but applying water by trickle at the rate of one l/h moved the salt 42 cm in 52.5 h. For an equal amount of water applied, salt moved deeper in the profile at the lower application rate. More salt spreading was observed from the trickle source with higher application rate. After 72 h of redistribution, the wetted volumes were approximately equal for trickle and pot irrigation regimes.     

Potato evapotranspiration and yield under different drip irrigation regimes

A field experiment comparing different irrigation frequencies and soil matric potential thresholds on potato evapotranspiration (ET), yield (Y) and water-use efficiency (WUE) was carried out in a loam soil. The experiment included five treatments for soil matric potential: F1 (-15 kPa), F2 (-25 kPa), F3 (-35 kPa), F4 (-45 kPa) and F5 (-55 kPa) and six treatments for irrigation frequency: N1 (once every day), N2 (once every 2 days), N3 (once every 3 days), N4 (once every 4 days), N6 (once every 6 days) and N8 (once every 8 days). Results indicate that both soil matric potential and drip irrigation frequency influenced potato ET, Y and WUE. Potato ET increased as irrigation frequency and soil matric potential increased. Comparing soil water potential, the highest ET was 63.4 mm (32.1%) more than the lowest value. Based on irrigation frequency treatments, the highest ET was 36.7 mm (19.2%) more than the lowest value. Potato Y and WUE were also found to increase as irrigation frequency increased. Potato Y increased with an increase in soil water potential then started to decrease. The highest Y and WUE values were achieved with a soil matric potential threshold of -25 kPa and an irrigation frequency of once a day.Communicated by J. Ayars     

Simulation of soil water dynamics under subsurface drip irrigation from line sources

A mathematical model which describes water flow under subsurface drip lines taking into account root water uptake, evaporation of soil water from the soil surface and hysteresis in the soil water characteristic curve θ(H) is presented. The model performance in simulating soil water dynamics was evaluated by comparing the predicted soil water content values with both those of Hydrus 2D model and those of an analytical solution for a buried single strip source. Soil water distribution patterns for three soils (loamy sand, silt, silty clay loam) and two discharge rates (2 and 4 l m⁻¹ h⁻¹) at four different times are presented. The numerical results showed that the soil wetting pattern mainly depends on soil hydraulic properties; that at a time equal to irrigation duration decreasing the discharge rate of the line sources but maintaining the applied irrigation depth, the vertical and horizontal components of the wetting front were increased; that at a time equal to the total simulation time the discharge rate has no effect on the actual transpiration and actual soil evaporation and a small effect on deep percolation. Also the numerical results showed that when the soil evaporation is neglected the soil water is more easily taken up by the plant roots.     

Modelling soil water and salt dynamics under pulsed and continuous surface drip irrigation of almond and implications of system design

The HYDRUS-2D model was experimentally verified for water and salinity distribution during the profile establishment stage (33?days) of almond under pulsed and continuous drip irrigation. The model simulated values of water content obtained at different lateral distances (0, 20, 40, 60, 100?cm) from a dripper at 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, 100, 120, 140 and 160?cm soil depths at different times (5, 12, 19, 26 and 33?days of profile establishment) were compared with neutron probe measured values under both irrigation scenarios. The model closely predicted water content distribution at all distances, times and soil depths as RMSE values ranged between 0.017 and 0.049. The measured mean soil water salinity (ECsw) at 25?cm from the dripper at 30, 60, 90 and 150?cm soil depth also matched well with the predicted values. A correlation of 0.97 in pulsed and 0.98 in continuous drip systems with measured values indicated the model closely predicted total salts in the root zone. Thus, HYDRUS-2D successfully simulated the change in soil water content and soil water salinity in both the wetting pattern and in the flow domain. The initial mean ECsw below the dripper in pulsed (5.25?dSm^?1) and continuous (6.07?dSm^?1) irrigations decreased to 1.31 and 1.36?dSm^?1, respectively, showing a respective 75.1 and 77.6% decrease in the initial salinity. The power function [y?=?ax ^?b ] best described the mathematical relationship between salt removal from the soil profile as a function of irrigation time under both irrigation scenarios. Contrary to other studies, higher leaching fraction (6.4–43.1%) was recorded in pulsed than continuous (1.1–35.1%) irrigation with the same amount of applied water which was brought about by the variation in initial soil water content and time of irrigation application. It was pertinent to note that a small (0.012) increase in mean antecedent water content (θ _i ) brought about 8.25–9.06% increase in the leaching fraction during the profile establishment irrespective of the emitter geometry, discharge rate, and irrigation scenario. Under similar θ _i , water applied at a higher discharge rate (3.876?Lh^?1) has resulted in slightly higher leaching fraction than at a low discharge rate (1.91?Lh^?1) under pulsing only owing to the variation in time of irrigation application. The influence of pulsing on soil water content, salinity distribution, and drainage flux vanished completely when irrigation was applied daily on the basis of crop evapotranspiration (ETc) with a suitable leaching fraction. Therefore, antecedent soil water content and scheduling or duration of water application play a significant role in the design of drip irrigation systems for light textured soils. These factors are the major driving force to move water and solutes within the soil profile and may influence the off-site impacts such as drainage flux and pollution of the groundwater.     

Observations of soil water and salt movement under drip and flood irrigation in an apple orchard

Part of a mature apple orchard, previously flood irrigated, was converted to drip irrigation in August 1971 and maintained until May 1975. The remainder of the orchard was irrigated as before.Annual estimates were made of moisture, total soluble salts and chloride content of soil samples and of growth, leaf chloride and yield of trees from the two irrigation treatments. Soil moisture was also monitored with a neutron moisture meter.Very high salt concentrations were observed in the various soil layers in the drip irrigation treatment. The flood irrigation treatment had lower and less variable concentrations of salts.Yields and chloride content of leaves sampled each January did not differ significantly between treatments. Tree girths were smaller under drip irrigation.The drip system, using a low pressure head, filtered water and outlets wrapped in fibreglass, operated satisfactorily for the period of the trial.     

Distribution of grapevine roots and salt under drip and full-ground cover microjet irrigation systems

We describe the three dimensional variation in root length density (L_v) within a quarter of the planting area of Colombard grapevines on Ramsey rootstock grown under drip and full-cover microjet irrigation. Under drip irrigation roots were concentrated under the vine row, whereas under microjet irrigation roots were evenly spread across the planting area. The maximum L_v were 1.2 and 0.6 cm/cm³ and the estimated total root lengths per vine were 32 and 26 km for drip and microjet irrigated vines, respectively. Under drip irrigation, 56% of the variation in L_v could be accounted for as a function of depth and radial distance into the row, and under microjet, 45% of the variation in L_v could be accounted for as a function of depth. Twenty five per cent of the vine roots were in soil with an air filled porosity at field capacity of 6% or less. Based on the variation of root length per unit area (L_a) across a quarter of the planting area and between vines, we concluded that selection of a location at which the L_a would be representative of that in the entire irrigation unit is feasible in microjet irrigated vines but not in those irrigated with drip. The absence of a location representative of L_a confounds the scheduling of drip irrigation based solely on measurements of soil moisture.     

Salt distribution and the growth of cotton under different drip irrigation regimes in a saline area

A 3-year experiment was conducted in an extremely dry and saline wasteland to investigate the effects of the drip irrigation on salt distributions and the growth of cotton under different irrigation regimes in Xinjiang, Northwest China. The experiment included five treatments in which the soil matric potential (SMP) at 20 cm depth was controlled at −5, −10, −15, −20, and −25 kPa after cotton was established. The results indicated that a favorable low salinity zone existed in the root zone throughout the growing season when the SMP threshold was controlled below −25 kPa. When the SMP value decreased, the electrical conductivity of the saturation paste extract (EC_e) in the root zone after the growing season decreased as well. After the 3-year experiment, the seed-cotton yield had reached 84% of the average yield level for non-saline soil in the study region and the emergence rate was 78.1% when the SMP target value was controlled below −5 kPa. The average pH of the soil decreased slightly after 3 years of cultivation. The highest irrigation water use efficiency (IWUE) values were recorded when the SMP was around −20 kPa. After years of reclamation and utilization, the saline soil gradually changed to a moderately saline soil. The SMP of −5 kPa at a depth of 20 cm immediately under a drip emitter can be used as an indicator for cotton drip irrigation scheduling in saline areas in Xinjiang, Northwest China.     

Tomato root distribution, yield and fruit quality under different subsurface drip irrigation regimes and depths

Tomato rooting patterns, yield and fruit quality were evaluated in a field trial where three irrigation regimes [0.6 (DI), 0.9 (DII) and 1.2 ET_c (DIII)] and three drip irrigation depths [surface (R0), subsurface at 20 cm depth (RI) and subsurface at 40 cm depth (RII)] were imposed following a split-plot experimental design, with four replications. The behaviour of the root system in response to the irrigation treatments was evaluated using minirhizotrons installed between two plants, near the plant row. Root-length intensity (L _a)—length of the root per unit of minirhizotron surface area (cm cm⁻²)—was measured at four crop stages. For all sampling dates, none of the factors studied were found to influence L _a or rooting depth significantly or the interaction between treatments. For all treatments most of the root system was concentrated in the top 40 cm of the soil profile, where the root-length density ranged from 0.5 cm cm⁻³ to 1.4 cm cm⁻³ . The response of tomato fruits to an increase in the water applied was similar in quantitative and qualitative terms for the different drip irrigation depths. Water applied by drip irrigation had the opposite effect on commercial yield (t ha⁻¹) and soluble solids (°Brix) (r=−0.82, P<0.001), however, yield in terms of total soluble solids (t ha⁻¹) was the same for the 0.9 and 1.2 ET_c. The increase in commercial yield can be described by the equation      

膜下滴灌棉田冻融期土壤剖面水盐热分布动态

为了深入揭示干旱区膜下滴灌棉田冻融期土壤水、盐和温度的动态变化规律,利用Hydra水盐热系统实现对冻融期宽行、窄行和膜间位置15,25和40 cm深度土壤液态水分、温度和电导率实时等间隔加密监测,分析了冻融期土壤水盐热动态变化过程.结果表明:同一位置不同深度液态水分、电导率和温度动态变化规律一致;冻融期内盐分垂向运移规律为深层土壤内的盐分向表层运移,冻融作用使盐分发生了重分布,加重了土壤40 cm深度的盐分含量,电导率增值范围为20~80 μS/cm,并且冻融前后不同位置电导率以位置排序由大到小为宽行,窄行,膜间;在冻融过程中不同位置土壤温度、液态水分和电导率两两之间存在着正相关关系(P<0.01),其相关系数大于0.74,而电导率与温度和液态水分两者也存在极强的多元一次函数关系(P<0.01),其相关系数大于0.90;冻结和融化并不是重合的过程,而是在期间会出现分叉点,分叉点出现在-1 ℃附近.研究结果对制定合理的非生育期灌溉制度具有重要参考意义.     

Root growth, available soil water, and water-use efficiency of winter wheat under different irrigation regimes applied at different growth stages in North China

Field experiments were conducted at the Luancheng Agro-Ecosystem Experimental Station of the Chinese Academy of Sciences during the winter wheat growing seasons in 2006-2007 and 2007-2008. Experiments involving winter wheat with 1, 2, and 3 irrigation applications at jointing, heading, or milking were conducted, and the total irrigation water supplied was maintained at 120 mm. The results indicated that irrigation during the later part of the winter wheat growing season and increase in irrigation frequency decreased the available soil water; this result was mainly due to the changes in the vertical distribution of root length density. In ≤30-cm-deep soil profiles, 3 times irrigation at jointing, heading, and milking increased the root length density, while in >30-cm-deep soil profiles, 1 time irrigation at jointing resulted in the highest root length density. With regard to evapotranspiration (ET), there was no significant (LSD, P < 0.05) difference between the regimes wherein irrigation was applied only once at jointing; 2 times at jointing and heading; and 3 times at jointing, heading, and milking. Compared with 1 and 3 times irrigation during the winter wheat growing season, 2 times irrigation increased grain yield and 2 times irrigation at jointing and heading produced the highest water-use efficiency (WUE). Combining the results obtained regarding grain yield and WUE, it can be concluded that irrigation at the jointing and heading stages results in high grain yield and WUE, which will offer a sound measurement for developing deficit irrigation regimes in North China.     

Distribution and storage characterization of soil solution for drip irrigation

The increased use of marginal quality water with drip irrigation requires sound fertigation practices that reconcile environmental concerns with viable crop production objectives. We conducted experiments to characterize dynamics and patterns of soil solution within wet bulb formed by drip irrigation. Time-domain reflectometry probes were used to monitor the distribution of potassium nitrate (KNO₃) and water distribution from drippers discharging at constant flow rates of 2, 4 and 8 L h⁻¹ in soil-filled containers. Considering results from different profiles, we observed greater solute storage near the dripper decreasing gradually towards the wetting front. About half of the applied KNO₃ solution (48%) was stored in the first layer (0–0.10 m) for all experiments, 29% was stored in the next layer (0.10–0.20 m). Comparing different dripper flow rates, we observed higher solution storage for 4 L h⁻¹, with 45, 53 and 47% of applied KNO₃ solution accumulating in the first layer (0–0.10 m) for dripper flow rates of 2, 4 and 8 L h⁻¹, respectively. The results suggest that based on the volume and frequency used in this experiment, it would be advantageous to apply small amounts of solution at more frequent intervals to reduce deep percolation losses of applied water and solutes.     

滴灌水温对土壤入渗和土壤温度的影响

为了解水温对滴灌土壤入渗特征和土壤温度的影响,研制一套恒温试验装置,可使水温变化控制在±0.5 ℃范围内,选择5,20,35 ℃作为试验水温,进行不同水温室内滴灌入渗试验,分析各水温下土壤水分入渗和土壤温度变化特征.结果表明:在相同时段内,随滴灌水温升高,水平和垂直湿润锋运移距离增大,垂直湿润锋运移速率增大.分别建立水平、垂直湿润锋运移距离与入渗时间和滴灌水温的关系模型,决定系数R²均大于0.99.湿润土体平均含水量与入渗时间关系不大,但随入渗水温的升高而减小.土壤水分扩散率与水温成正比;水温升高,饱和导水率随之增大,二者呈指数函数关系;土壤吸持水分的能力随温度的升高而降低.不同灌溉水温改变了土体中的温度分布,随着距滴头距离的增加,由水温引起的土壤温度的变化量逐渐减小.结论可为指导大田和温室滴灌技术提供理论依据.     

Distribution of herbicides in soil in a simulated drip irrigation system

Summary The behavior of two herbicides (bromacil and napropamide) applied to a Mediterranean red loam soil (hamra) from a point source is presented. Neither herbicide was degraded during the period of the study. Bromacil was only slightly adsorbed by the soil (K _d – 0.1 ml/g; Fig. 1) and was evenly distributed in the soil volume when applied at a constant concentration (Fig. 3). The distribution of napropamide, which was adsorbed by the soil (K _d – 1.2 ml/g; Fig. 1), was restricted to the zone immediately around the emitter (Fig. 3). Application of the herbicides to previously wetted soils increased the vertical and lateral movement of both herbicides (Fig. 4). Leaching of the chemicals was more pronounced for bromacil than for napropamide (Fig. 5). Cycles of irrigation and evaporation at two irrigation frequencies demonstrated that bromacil can be leached quickly from the emitter zone whereas naproparnide will move only slowly into the soil volume (Fig. 8).Contribution from the Agricultural Research Organization, The Volcani Center, Bet Dagan, Israel. No. 289-E, 1980 Series     

Cotton yield and applied water relationships under drip irrigation

Different irrigation scheduling methods and amounts of water ranging from deficit to excessive amounts were used in cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) irrigation studies from 1988 to 1999, at Lubbock, TX. Irrigation scheduling treatments based on canopy temperature (T_c) were emphasized in each year. Surface drip irrigation and recommended production practices for the area were used. The objective was to use the 12-year database to estimate the effect of irrigation and growing season temperature on cotton yield. Yields in the irrigation studies were then compared with those for the northwest Texas production region. An irrigation input of 58 cm or total water application of 74 cm was estimated to produce maximum lint yield. Sources of the total water supply for the maximum yielding treatments for each year averaged 74% from irrigation and 26% from rain. Lint yield response to irrigation up to the point of maximum yield was approximated as 11.4 kg ha⁻¹ cm⁻¹ of irrigation between the limits of 5 and 54 cm with lint yields ranging from 855 to 1630 kg ha⁻¹. The intra-year maximum lint yield treatments were not limited by water input, and their inter-year range of 300 kg ha⁻¹ was not correlated with the quantity of irrigation. The maximum lint yields were linearly related to monthly and seasonal heat units (HU) with significant regressions for July (P=0.15), August (P=0.07), and from May to September (P=0.01). The fluctuation of maximum yearly lint yields and the response to HU in the irrigation studies were similar to the average yields in the surrounding production region. The rate of lint yield increase with HU was slightly higher in the irrigation studies than in the surrounding production area and was attributed to minimal water stress. Managing irrigation based on real-time measurements of T_c produced maximum cotton yields without applying excessive irrigation.     

Effect of soil matric potential on tomato yield and water use under drip irrigation condition

Field experiment was carried out to investigate the effect of soil matric potential (SMP) on tomato yield, evapotranspiration (ET), water use efficiency (WUE) and irrigation water use efficiency (IWUE) under drip irrigation condition in North China Plain. The experiment included five treatments, which controlled SMP at 0.2 m depth immediately under drip emitter higher than −10 (S1), −20 (S2), −30 (S3), −40 (S4) and −50 kPa (S5), respectively, after tomato plant establishment. The results showed that different SMP affected irrigation amount and tomato ET. Irrigation amount decreased from 185 mm (S1) to 83.6 mm (S5) in 2004, and from 165 mm (S1) to 109 mm (S5) in 2005, respectively. The ET decreased from 270 mm (S1) to 202 mm (S5) in both years. However, it was found that SMP did not affect the tomato yield significantly, for the range of SMP investigated. Both WUE and IWUE increased as SMP decreased. The maximum WUE (253 and 217 kg/ha mm) and IWUE (620 and 406 kg/ha mm) were for S5 in 2 years, whereas the minimum WUE (178 and 155 kg/ha mm) and IWUE 261 and 259 kg/ha mm) were for S1 in 2004 and 2005. Based on the above results, therefore, it is recommended that if the tomatoes are well irrigated (SMP is higher than −20 kPa) during establishment, controlling SMP higher than −50 kPa at 0.2 m depth immediately under drip emitter can be used as an indicator for drip irrigation scheduling during following period of tomato growth in North China Plain.     

Soil water variability under subsurface drip and furrow irrigation

Non-uniformities in soil hydraulic properties and infiltration rates are considered to be major reasons for the inefficiencies of some surface irrigation systems. These non-uniformities may cause non-uniformities in soil water contents and could potentially affect plant growth. To investigate whether the non-uniformities in soil water contents can be overcome by well-managed irrigation systems, fields with clay loam soils and planted to cotton were irrigated with a continuous-flow, a surge flow, and a subsurface drip system. Measurements of water contents in each field were taken throughout the growing season at several depths. The water contents measured within the top 0–0.9 m in the three irrigations systems were evaluated in terms of their spatial and temporal variabilities. The analyses indicated that on this soil, use of the surge flow system did not lead to increased spatial uniformities of soil water contents compared with the continuous-flow system. Use of the subsurface drip system resulted in very non-uniform soil water contents above the depth of the emitters. Variability in water contents below the emitter depth was comparable to the surface irrigation systems. Received: 26 March 1996     

温室番茄循环曝气地下滴灌土壤水分动态及耗水特性

为探求循环曝气地下滴灌对温室番茄土壤水分及耗水特性的影响规律,采用正交试验,研究了不同滴灌带埋深、曝气水平及灌水量对温室番茄土壤含水率、耗水量、产量及水分利用效率的影响.整个生育期内番茄耗水量呈先增大后减小的趋势,曝气处理番茄耗水量显著高于不曝气处理.相比于不曝气处理,曝气滴灌处理番茄产量提高10%.15 cm滴灌带埋深、溶氧值30 mg/L以及K_P为0.75灌水量处理的番茄产量和水分利用效率达到最大值,分别为64 951.3 kg/hm²和23.26 kg/(hm²·mm).结果表明,曝气处理对番茄产量、水分利用效率的影响具有统计学意义(P<0.05).曝气对于土壤含水率有一定影响,且曝气处理有助于番茄对水分的吸收.滴灌带埋深和灌水量交互作用对番茄产量的影响具有统计学意义(P<0.05),滴灌带埋深和曝气量交互作用对番茄产量的影响具有统计学意义(P<0.01),灌水量与滴灌带埋深、灌水量与曝气水平交互作用分别对番茄水分利用效率的影响具有统计学意义(P<0.01).     

Soil microbial response, water and nitrogen use by tomato under different irrigation regimes

The objectives of this study were to investigate the effects of full irrigation (FI), deficit irrigation (DI) and partial root-zone drying (PRD) on plant biomass, irrigation water productivity (IWP), nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) of tomato, and soil microbial C/N ratio. The plants were grown in pots with roots split equally between two soil compartments in a climate-controlled glasshouse. During early fruiting stage, plants were exposed to FI, DI, and PRD treatments. In FI, both soil compartments were irrigated daily to a volumetric soil water content of 18%; in PRD, only one soil compartment was irrigated to 18% while the other was allowed to dry to ca. 7-8%, then the irrigation was shifted; in DI, the same amount of water used for the PRD plants was equally split to the two soil compartments. The results showed that, the FI treatment produced significantly higher dry biomasses of leaves, stems, and fresh weight of fruit and water productivity of aboveground dry biomass production than either DI or PRD, however, fruit IWP in DI was 25% higher than that of FI, and harvest index in DI and PRD were 50% and 22% higher than FI, respectively, for the 26% and 23% less water used in the DI and PRD, respectively, than the FI treatment. The DI treatment caused the smallest losses of N and highest N use efficiency by fruit. Both DI and PRD caused a significant increase in the soil microbial C/N ratio, meaning ratio of fungal biomass was high at low soil water contents. The result indicates that more work is needed to link the aboveground N uptake and the underground microbially mediated N transformation under different water-saving irrigation regimes.     

Effect of temporal variability in soil hydraulic properties on simulated water transfer under high-frequency drip irrigation

The effect of changes in the hydraulic properties of a loamy topsoil on water transfer under daily drip irrigation was studied over a cropping cycle. Soil water contents were measured continuously with neutron probes and capacitance sensors placed in access tubes (EnviroSMART) and were compared to predications made by the Hydrus-2D model. Three different sets of hydraulic parameters measured before and after irrigation started, were used.Our results demonstrated that, based on the assumptions used in this study, the accuracy of the Hydrus predictions is good. Graphical and statistical comparisons of simulated and measured soil water contents and consequently the total water storage revealed a similar trend throughout the monitoring period for the all three different sets of parameters. The soil hydraulic properties determined after irrigation started were found to be much more representative of the majority of the irrigation season, as confirmed by the accuracy of the simulation results with high values of the index of agreement and with values of RMSE similar in magnitude to the error associated with field measurements (0.020 cm³ cm⁻³). The highest RMSE values (about 0.04 cm³ cm⁻³) were found when the model used input soil parameters measured before irrigation started.Generally, changes in topsoil hydraulic properties over time had no significant effect on soil moisture distribution in our agro-pedo-climatic context. One possible explanation is that daily water application was conducted at the same time as maximal root water uptake. This meant the soil did not need to store total daily crop water requirements and consequently that the water redistribution phase represented a very short stage in the irrigation cycle. It is probable that irrigating in the daytime when crop evapotranspiration is highest could prevent the effects of a temporal change and other problems connected with the soil. Moreover, water will be always available for the crop. Further experiments are needed to justify the results and to study the effects of low frequency drip irrigation on soil hydraulic characterization and consequently on soil water transfer in order to improve irrigation scheduling practices.     

Water relations of field grown Pomegranate trees (Punica granatum) under different drip irrigation regimes

Pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) is a deciduous fruit tree native of central Asia included in the so-called group of minor fruit tree species, not widely grown but of some importance in the south east of Spain. Fruit consumption interest is due to the organoleptic characteristics and to the beneficial effects on health. Pomegranate tree are considered as a culture tolerant to soil water deficit. However, very little is known about pomegranate orchard water management. The objective of this work was to characterize, for the first time in P. granatum, water relations aspects of applied significance for irrigation scheduling. Trees under different irrigation regimes were used and midday stem water potential (Ψ_stem) and midday leaf gas exchange were periodically measured over the course of an entire season. During spring and autumn, Ψ_stem did not show significant differences between irrigation treatments while there were considerable differences in leaf photosynthesis and stomatal conductance, suggesting a near-isohydric behaviour of pomegranate trees. This might explain why the signal intensity of Ψ_stem was lower than those of gas exchange indicators during the experimental period. Thus, leaf photosynthesis rates and stomatal conductance might have a greater potential for irrigation scheduling of pomegranate trees than Ψ_stem measured at solar noon.