Dates
ExperimentalThe sensor gives usable readings here, but the dataset is thin and there are no published thresholds. Sold for research and supervised field trials only — not for commercial irrigation scheduling. Growers: stick to the Validated list.
Performance
Potential for use in experiments if you can develop a new installation method. The default installation is challenging and only gives good data for 1-2 weeks.
Installation Tips
- Initial testing was challenging due to the need to dig through the palm frond stubs to get to the main trunk. The sensor installation sleeve would not attach securely to the trunk tissue and creating a good seal was challenging. The water-carrying tissue is soft so the sleeve nails don’t hold very well. We managed to install sensors into the main stem of a frond and got data that looked reasonable for about 2 weeks before the sensors showed little/no diurnal fluctuations. Measuring water potential is theoretically possible, but a better installation method is needed. Using sleeves with nails that are 3-4x longer could provide adequate mechanical attachment.