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Soil scientists over the years have proven beyond doubt how critical soil moisture content is for increased plant growth, reduced loss of fertilisers, improved water management and better control of diseases.
Setting the moisture levels for when to start and stop irrigating is therefore extremely important. AQUAFLEX provides continuous logging of soil moisture readings, allowing the user to set the appropriate Field Capacity and Refill Point.
After that, it's a matter of keeping between the lines!
Field Capacity
After saturation the trace normally falls relatively quickly. Soil is said to be at Field Capacity when all of its free water has been drained by gravity, and is defined as the level where the fall of the trace begins to slow down (refer to the Point A in the graph). At this level, the soil holds its maximum amount of moisture.
Refill Point
The Refill Point is the minimum level of soil moisture for effective plant growth, and at which point the user must apply water to bring the soil back to its Field Capacity. Typically, the Refill Point is somewhere halfway between the Field Capacity and the Permanent Wilting Point. The Permanent Wilting Point describes the storage level where the plant will fail to recover after re-wetting.
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