www.goodfruit.com Good Fruit Grower APRIL 1, 2016 7
extension specialist hired to replace him, have published
a worksheet that walks growers through the process.
Overall, they encourage growers to use math, science
and accurate data to deliver the correct amount of water,
fully expecting that figure to change with the season and
weather.
Smith bases his figures on evapotranspiration, the
ever-changing rate at which trees consume water to pro-
cess light and carbon dioxide to grow.
He suspects too many growers just guess in a high-
stakes era of drought threats, shallow root zones and
high-density plantings. "We have a problem when it
comes to irrigating properly as an industry," he said.
He doesn't consider growers careless, he said, just
stuck in a complex situation with a variety of planting
structures, soil types, varieties, irrigation delivery systems
Tim Smith Tianna DuPont
