Pedosphere 14(2): 205--212, 2004 ISSN 1002-0160/CN 32-1315/P ©2004 Soil Science Society of China Published by Elsevier B.V. and Science Press Tomato root response to subsurface drip irrigation ZHUGE Yu-Ping1, ZHANG Xu-Dong1, ZHANG Yu-Long2, LI Jun2, YANG Li-Juan2, HUANG Yi2 and LIU Ming-Da2 1 Key Laboratory of Terrestrial Ecological Process, Institute of Applied Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang 110016 (China). E-mail: zgyp@tom.com 2 Land and Environmental College, Shenyang Agricultural University, Shenyang 110161 (China) ABSTRACT       Four depth treatments of subsurface drip irrigation pipes were designated as 1) at 20, 2) 30 and 3) 40 cm depths all with a drip-proof flumes underneath, and 4) at 30 cm without a drip-proof flume to investigate the responses of a tomato root system to different technical parameters of subsurface drip irrigation in a glass greenhouse, to evaluate tomato growth as affected by subsurface drip irrigation, and to develop an integrated subsurface drip irrigation method for optimal tomato yield and water use in a glass greenhouse. Tomato seedlings were planted above the subsurface drip irrigation pipe. Most of the tomato roots in treatment 1 were found in the top 0-20 cm soil depth with weak root activity but with yield and water use efficiency (WUE) significantly less (P = 0.05) than treatment 2; root activity and tomato yield were significantly higher (P = 0.05) with treatment 3 compared to treatment 1; and with treatment 2 the tomato roots and shoots grew harmoniously with root activity, nutrient uptake, tomato yield and WUE significantly higher (P = 0.05) or as high as the other treatments. These findings suggested that subsurface drip irrigation with pipes at 30 cm depth with a drip-proof flume placed underneath was best for tomato production in greenhouses. In addition, the irrigation interval should be about 7-8 days and the irrigation rate should be set to 225 m3 ha-1 per event. Key Words:  greenhouse, root system response, soil water, subsurface drip irrigation Citation: Zhuge, Y. P., Zhang, X. D., Zhang, Y. L., Li, J., Yang, L. J., Huang, Y. and Liu, M. D. 2004. Tomato root response to subsurface drip irrigation. Pedosphere. 14(2): 205-212. View Full Text

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