Alternative Irrigation Scheduling: Comparing the Smartirrigation App to Checkbook, and Soil Moisture-based Irrigation Methods for Watermelon

Numerous tools have been developed to improve irrigation scheduling in vegetables. However, growers have been reluctant to adopt these irrigation scheduling methods because they may be too cumbersome or to use, require specialized equipment, or are perceived to be risky compared to traditional methods. Recently, smartphone applications have been developed that schedule irrigation based on crop coefficients and real-time weather data. Called the Smartirrigation™ application (smartirrigationapps.org), these tools have the potential to aid farmers in conserving water and nutrients for crops. The parameters to determine irrigation in each application are based on crop-specific evapotranspiration (Et) curves that have been linked to weather stations in Georgia and Florida. One difference in the new application compared to previous methods of determining irrigation based on Et is that the new model has the ability to use weather forecasting tools to predict Et for several days in advance, allowing irrigation to be scheduled proactively. To determine the efficacy of the new Smartirrigation application for watermelon, a trial was conducted comparing it to automated soil moisture based irrigation (tensiometers) and water-balance methods. Watermelon ‘Melody’ was planted into raised beds of black plastic mulch. The trial was a randomized complete block design with four replications of each treatment. Total water use, soil moisture at depths of 15, 25, and 36 cm, as well as yield, soluble solids, and hollow heart incidence were recorded. Data from this trial will be used to demonstrate the overall utility of the Smartirrigation application for vegetable growers.