Advantages or disadvantages of each irrigation system (drip, sprinkler or surface) and their efficiency depend on the enviromental condition. There are several parameters effect on efficiency of the irrigation system:

- plant type

-soil texture

- climate condition

-water resources availability

-water quality

.

.

.

I agree with Eduardo too. For big trees this is not good in the area with strong winds and floods.

But i repeat again the efficiency of each irrigation method depend on that we notice the condition prevailing.

Yes.......

I'm concerned with produce. I'm finding that ebb and flow watering causes air pruning of roots which makes the root mass and surface area smaller. The trade off seems to be energy diverted to the plant vs. roots, but there is a slight stressing of the plant that makes the herbs smell and taste better. Both good things. Anyone confirm or have other facts regarding our observations?

It really depends on what you mean by stronger trees, e.g. a compact root zone would reduce the total area of the roots, by doing this you would increase the pressure over the soil, therefore, a big tree with a small root area would be susceptible to fall under strong winds or even floods!

For herbs though I don't recall of reading about it but it depends on the type of soil, and how good is the fertilization. What you mean by more efficient? in terms of water uptake? Nutrients? how's the nutrients movement in this soil? Think about these things too

I agree with what Eduardo said.

Advantages or disadvantages of each irrigation system (drip, sprinkler or surface) and their efficiency depend on the enviromental condition. There are several parameters effect on efficiency of the irrigation system:

- plant type

-soil texture

- climate condition

-water resources availability

-water quality

.

.

.

I agree with Eduardo too. For big trees this is not good in the area with strong winds and floods.

But i repeat again the efficiency of each irrigation method depend on that we notice the condition prevailing.

No not at all in case drip efficiency is entirely due to some different phenomena,

see, small irrigation interval( every day or alternate day less moisture depletion, no soil sealing like boarder irrigation , salt keeps away , most important is even at any time three phases: air ,water,soil are there ---- there will never air gap shock to plant after irrigation ...this what drip is!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Depends very much on soil type. We have dry sandy soil so drip irrigation is hopeless, we need micro-sprinklers to ensure an adequate ares is wetted.

I agree with Vekariya, the advantages of drip irrigation are mostly two: there is a specific soil volume in which the availability of water and oxygen for the roots is optimal what allowed exellent root development. The other advantage is the increasd efficiency of any root applied chemical whether it is a nutrient, pesticide or growth regulator as it is applied directly to active root system. As to sandy soil, drip irrigation works very well. You have to reduce the distances between the drippers and control the duration of irrigation. With time the sandy soil becomes enriched with organic material and it's water holding capacity increases. It is imperative to have frequent irrigation with drip of small quantities in order to have highest water use efficiency.

In desert land many countries taking advantages of drip system in sandy soil also.

No they produce weaker plants due to limited achoring lower root biomass takes more external inputs rather exploiting natural resources.

I was away for 12 months and am just now re-connecting to this interesting discussion group.

Well, my question long ago was somewhat a loaded one. The notion that more compact root zones were more efficient actually resulted from some suggestions by a respected soil-water-plant expert with Netafim Irrigation (Ami Charitan). His paper, Root Zone Management, established that wetting only 30% of the tree canopy might raise concerns about limited soil-root interface to meet nutritional needs, but not plant water needs. The only thing that changes, all other things held equal, was that irrigation frequency must increase. Then he alluded to a possible "root exudate phenomena", and that was the basis for my question. That there might actually be certain enzymatic benefits occurring? It was many years ago that he published that.

I think it is important to reaffirm the ideas about water requirements of new, nearly new, middle-aged, and mature, irrigated orchards. I am of the belief that very small transplanted trees are best managed using site specific knowledge of how these individuals deplete soil moisture, and we may run the system so as to apply so many gals of water to each tree, each week, per usually a bell-shaped curve over the year. I also believe that what we are observing, if we monitor soil moisture depletion, is a significant edge effect, whereby the very large dry areas between the rows tends to be a destiny for delivered water, like a heat-sink.. The trees are provided very little shade to the wetted onions along tree rows. Of course, cover crops and extensive soil mulching can resolve this; both take resources to implement.

As canopies expand, so does water required per week per tree. As conventional wisdom tends to hold, once the orchard reaches 60% to 70% full cover, we are more likely to start irrigating the entire orchard as a unit, and think about gallons delivered per week to the entire block, which easily reduces inches or millimeters per week (defined in terms of 'net' or 'gross). It is interesting to me that given these concepts, citrus for example, two orchards, one planted at 24 feet X 24 feet spacing, the other planted at 22 feet X 20 feet, at maturity, will require the same annual water volumes at maturity per acre In the former, the trees are individually larger, that's about all.

We acknowledge that the wetted area must be wide and deep enough to provide the structural support to fight high winds. It is conceivable that secondary roots, developed by periodic rainfall events (in otherwise arid localities) helps develop these important structures for tree durability.