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Here’s what is new at FloraPulse this month.

FloraPulse validated in cotton!

Check out the new publication titled “Monitoring cotton water status with microtensiometers” by the Duke Pauli group at University of Arizona. The authors state: Ψstem data [from the microtensiometers] proves to be more sensitive in distinguishing between irrigation treatments earlier in the growing season compared to Ψleaf, leaf temperature and leaf gas exchange parameters”. Microtensiometers – soon to improve your luxury cotton shirts.

YES. Analog sensor wires can be extended to over 50 ft.

Our recent tests indicate that the analog sensor wiring can indeed be extended, if done carefully. Check out the updated analog probe manual for detailed instructions on splicing the 4-pin sensor wiring to 50 ft or longer.

Redwoods are microtensiometer friendly.

FloraPulse coming to your backyard Redwood! A shout out to our gracious employee Terrence Jones who decided to ‘take matters into his own hands’ and test FloraPulse sensors in his own backyard Redwood tree. The operation took about 30 minutes and involved drilling through 2” of bark to get at the xylem tissue. The data looks great, with minimum water potentials of -8 bar measured, and excellent sensor-sensor agreement.

Orange water potential - shallow installation is key.

Recent testing shows that some crops are sensitive to the sensor installation depth. In particular, sensors installed in orange show dramatically more consistent data when installed into the outermost xylem layer. There is thus a clear (and big) difference between sensors installed at different depths. This goes against the widely-held belief that water potential equilibrates across xylem in the radial direction. Maybe xylem is only poorly connected radially? Something fishy (citrusy?) is going on.

We are developing a ‘shallow’ installation method to consistently install sensors in the outermost xylem. We expect this installation method will give better results in orange and other crops. Let us know if you’re interested in trying this out and we’ll reach out when it’s ready for external testing.

The FloraPulse crop validation database released.

We looked through all our data over the past 5+ years to put together a comprehensive list of crops FloraPulse has been tested on, results, and tips/tricks for each crop. Check out this resource whenever you’re thinking of using FloraPulse in a new crop. We’ll keep this document updated with new results as they come in.

Featured distributor: Lab-Ferrer

Meet Francesc Ferrer from LabFerrer! LabFerrer is a respected instrumentation provider, consultant, and support hub in Spain and Portugal for scientists, IoT integrator companies, consultants and farmers. The company sells and services sensors and equipment from manufacturers worldwide; but also, most importantly, provides high-quality support, advice and expertise to their customers. LabFerrer has been selling FloraPulse for 3 years is deeply familiar with the technology and its uses.

Francesc co-founded LabFerrer 25 years ago after he finished his MSc at Washington State University and his PhD at University of Lleida. The topic of his research was crop modeling and the soil-plant-atmosphere continuum; since then, these topics have been his passion and expertise. Francesc is also the mayor of his micro-town, Argençola, and enjoys gardening and hiking. He is married and has three daughters and one grandson.

LabFerrer is based in NE Spain (Catalonia) and serves Spain and Portugal. LabFerrer has the complete FloraPulse support service: spare parts, verification and refilling. Contact LabFerrer anytime if you need sensors or service, or for general questions: +34 973532110 info@labferrer.com.