Most citrus nurseries in Florida, USA use overhead irrigation, but subirrigation methods, including ebb-and-flow and capillary mats, have been shown to conserve water and accelerate plant growth relative to overhead irrigation for other nursery species and may be a viable alternative to overhead irrigation in citrus liner production. The objectives of this study were to (1) automate an ebb-and-flow system for citrus liner production using capacitance sensors, and (2) evaluate how subirrigation and overhead irrigation methods affect water use, plant growth parameters, and substrate chemical properties. A study was conducted from 22 May to 23 September 2018 in which liners of six commercially important rootstock cultivars in cone-shaped containers were subjected to one of the following irrigation methods: ebb-and-flow triggered at substrate volumetric water contents (θ) of 0.24, 0.36, or 0.48 m³ m⁻³, capillary mats, and overhead irrigation. Capacitance sensors successfully monitored irrigation throughout the study. Ebb-and-flow benches used substantially less water (~411 L) than either capillary mats (13,098 L) or overhead irrigation (3193 L). By the end of the study, rootstock cultivars propagated using subirrigation methods were approximately 22% taller with 7% more total biomass than plants subjected to overhead irrigation. Additionally, plant growth at the 0.24 m³ m⁻³ threshold used to trigger ebb-and-flow was as great or greater than growth at 0.36 and 0.48 m³ m⁻³ thresholds. During the final five weeks of the study, substrate electrical conductivity was higher using subirrigation methods (0.84–1.3 ds m⁻¹) than under overhead irrigation (0.55–0.8 ds m⁻¹), but there were no symptoms of salt stress observed in plants at any time. Results from this study show that ebb-and-flow is a viable alternative to overhead irrigation and is superior to capillary mats for water conservation. In automated ebb-and-flow systems in Florida, we recommend using the 0.24 m³ m⁻³ threshold to produce the citrus rootstock cultivars used in this study with peat: perlite substrate.

美国佛罗里达州的大多数柑桔苗圃都采用架空灌溉，但是相对于其他苗圃种的架空灌溉，子灌水方法（包括潮汐流和毛细垫）已被证明可以节约用水并加快植物的生长，并且可能是可行的替代方法。柑桔班轮生产中的间接灌溉。这项研究的目的是（1）使用电容传感器使柑桔内衬生产的潮起潮落系统自动化，以及（2）评估次灌水和高架灌溉方法如何影响用水，植物生长参数和基质化学性质。2018年5月22日至9月23日进行了一项研究，对六个在商业上重要的砧木栽培品种在锥形容器中的内衬进行以下灌溉方法之一：³ m ^-3，毛细管垫和架空灌溉。电容传感器在整个研究过程中成功监测了灌溉情况。落潮式工作台所用的水（〜411 L）比毛细管垫（13,098 L）或顶置灌溉（3193 L）少得多。到研究结束时，用地下灌溉法繁殖的砧木品种比高架灌溉植物高约22％，总生物量高7％。此外，用于触发潮起潮落的0.24 m ³ m ^-3阈值的植物生长与0.36和0.48 m ³ m ^-3的生长相同或更大。阈值。在研究的最后五周期间，使用地下灌溉方法（0.84–1.3 ds m ^-1）的基质电导率高于顶部灌溉下（0.55–0.8 ds m ^-1）的基质电导率，但没有观察到盐胁迫的症状。随时种植。这项研究的结果表明，潮起潮落是高架灌溉的一种可行替代方案，并且在节约用水方面优于毛细管垫。在佛罗里达州的自动潮起潮落系统中，我们建议使用0.24 m ³ m ^-3阈值来生产本研究中使用的泥炭：珍珠岩基质的柑橘砧木品种。