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We have a massive mailing list this month! Four new research papers, two articles, two presentations and validation in 9 crops!

New research papers

Relating microtensiometer-based trunk water potential with sap flow, canopy temperature,and trunk and fruit diameter variations for irrigated ‘Honeycrisp’ apple
How microtensiometers can help apple growers fine tune irrigation.

Multisite evaluation of microtensiometer and osmotic cell stem water potential sensors in almond orchards (pre-print)
[Microtensiometers] have the potential to optimize water use in almond production.

Continuous Plant-Based and Remote Sensing for Determination of Fruit Tree Water Status
FloraPulse microtensiometers as leading sensors for tree water status!

Preliminary observations on the use of microtensiometers to continuously measure water potential in a mature olive orchard
[Microtensiometers and the pressure chamber] showed a very clear trend in response to irrigation and similar relative changes.

New articles

Artificial Intelligence in the Vineyard - Tremendous Data Processing Requires Tremendous Data
Building an AI model on pressure chamber readings would be extremely cumbersome. Having more frequent data points, thanks to FloraPulse, offers a lot of promise.

Tools and sensors can help tree nut growers with water stress
Over the last 10 years, Shackel noted that the FloraPulse sensor, a tensiometer, has been the best tool he’s found to mimic the measurement that the pressure chamber takes on a different scale and is becoming much more popular among tree nut growers.

New presentations

FruitCrews:“Deployment of the FloraPulse microtensiometer to monitor stem water potential in support of physiology research and irrigation scheduling.” by Alan Lakso
Monitoring stem water potential allows determination of when to startirrigation and if irrigation actually reaches the desired stress level.

FruitCrews: “Irrigation management in apple and pear.” by Victor Blanco
Rain exclusion studies on Gala apple using the microtensiometer! And how stem water potential directly affects fruit growth.

FloraPulse validated in avocado, blueberry, cherry, orange, grape, hazelnut, kiwi, prune and walnut!

Our partner OLIVOS riego down in Chile took on a massive effort validate the new small FloraPulse probes in a variety of crops against the pressure chamber. Hundreds of pressure bomb readings were taken! And the results were nothing short of amazing.

Most crops worked very well: blueberry, cherry, mandarin, grape, hazelnut, kiwi, prune.

Results for new crops are encouraging, but there’s still work to be done in avocado and walnut.

With all we’ve learned from this testing and new sensor improvements, we expect even better results moving forward.

See our blog post with some good ol data.