2018 ASHS Annual Conference

Florida’s agricultural industry is moving to non-traditional crops such as peaches, which are common crops in northern latitudes. Low-chill peach cultivars allow Florida growers to market their crops before northern states, thereby obtaining premium prices. Irrigation is a common practice for peach production in Florida and is required to maximize yields. Current irrigation recommendations and peach crop coefficients were determined in arid climates which likely are inaccurate for humid climates. The objectives of this study were to estimate the daily crop evapotranspiration (ET_C) and the crop coefficient (Kc) of adult peach trees. Three trees were evaluated during 18 months in north-Florida for water uptake. Soil moisture sensors measured daily changes in soil volumetric water content every 10 minutes to calculate a daily water balance and estimate ET_C. Daily values of reference evapotranspiration (ET_O) were used to estimate Kc. Daily ET_C ranged from 0.71 mm·d^-1 during dormancy, 3.39 mm·d^-1 during fruit development and 2.47 mm·d^-1 during vegetative growth. Daily estimated Kc ranged from 0.64 during dormancy, 0.8 during fruit development and 0.6 during vegetative growth. Daily peach Kc estimations provide a more accurate guideline to peach growers for irrigation practices in humid climates, compared with previous recommendations.