2005 Volume 4 Issue 3 Pages 291-295
We developed a transpiration measurement system for satsuma mandarin trees to analyze water movement under a mulching sheet cultivation system in summer, and showed that the daily average water loss from a tree ranged from 22-25 liters in September. These data indicated that most of the water absorbed from roots evaporated from leaves and the amount of water stored in fruit was slight. The transpiration rate changed depending on the weather conditions, showing the highest correlation to the solar radiation among air temperature, humidity and solar radiation. As the soil water concentration was decreased by mulching cultivation using porous sheets, the transpiration rate from tree leaves was decreased 0 to 40% from that of trees under the non-mulching cultivation, with a 15% decrease on average. The amount of water evaporation from soil surface covered with porous mulching sheets was ca 30% of that from bare soil.
