Growing crops in cities is challenging due to many factors including space restrictions, busy lifestyles, cost and availability of water. Wicking beds (WBs) have been identified as a simple, potentially water- and labour-efficient irrigation method compared to hand irrigation. However, limited studies exist to validate claims of the effectiveness of WBs with respect to water use efficiency (WUE) and crop productivity. The effectiveness of WBs to grow shallow-rooted crops was scientifically investigated for the first time in this study using a small-scale glasshouse experiment to identify the gaps in WB research and to reveal benefits or problems with the application. Specifically, the growth of lettuce ( Lactuca sativa, var. ‘cos’) and two radishes ( Raphanus sativus, var. ‘mars’, and ( Raphanus sativus var. ‘white long icicle’) was examined. The performance of WBs was compared with a precise hand irrigation treatment based on WUE, yield, biomass, crop type and the presence or absence of mulch. WUE, yield and biomass were always higher in WBs than the hand-irrigated treatments. Furthermore, the WUE benefits of WBs may depend on the type of crop grown (specifically the root form), soil bed depth, and the presence of mulch.

中文翻译：

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温室条件下浅根作物芯吸床灌溉试验研究

由于空间限制、繁忙的生活方式、成本和水资源供应等诸多因素，在城市种植农作物具有挑战性。与手动灌溉相比，芯吸床 (WBs) 已被确定为一种简单、潜在的节水和劳动力高效灌溉方法。然而，有限的研究来验证 WBs 在用水效率 (WUE) 和作物生产力方面的有效性。在这项研究中，首次使用小规模温室实验对 WB 种植浅根作物的有效性进行了科学调查，以确定 WB 研究中的差距并揭示应用的好处或问题。具体地，检查了莴苣（Lactuca sativa，var.'cos'）和两种萝卜（Raphanus sativus，var.'mars'，和（Raphanus sativus var.'white long icicle'）的生长。WBs 的性能与基于 WUE、产量、生物量、作物类型和覆盖物的存在与否的精确手动灌溉处理进行了比较。WUE、产量和生物量在 WBs 中总是高于手工灌溉处理。此外，WB 的 WUE 收益可能取决于种植的作物类型（特别是根形式）、土床深度和覆盖物的存在。