How to Apply the Necessary Amount of Water to Tree Nuts

Daniele Zaccaria is a UCANR Water Management Specialists based at UC Davis, Zaccaria says, well, the decision can be different.

“We can apply this water uniformly or size specifically. We can apply this water with frequent and light water application irrigation, or with infrequent and deep, depending on the crop, depending on the type of system. And but also there's another type of answer that we can provide. We should apply water with application rates and volumes that is compatible with the soil infiltration,” Zaccaria said

And he said, it's got to be compatible with the water holding capacity of that soil.

“If we are in areas where we have some time of use for energy, also our way of applying water should be, somehow in compliance with the energy rates in order to optimize the use of energy and minimize the energy costs,” noted Zaccaria.

Zachariah says there's three main methods of scheduling and irrigation.

“The first one is based on wet weather parameters. The second one is based on the soil characteristic. And the third one is that what we call plant-based,” he said. And that's how much that plant may need at any given time. And it's often based on ET data.