Lysimetric analysis of crop water consumption patterns in selected vegetables

Abstract

The study was carried out during the 1991 and 1992 seasons on tomato (Lycoperiscon esculentum, Mill) cv. UC 97/3, lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) variety Great Lakes and squash (Cucurbita pepo L.) variety Zucechini. Clay and sand lysimeters were used in order to study the actual water consumption for these crops in comparison with the calculated values using the Piche Method. Actual water consumption was higher than the estimated values from the Piche Method in clay lysimeters. On the other hand, there was no difference between the methods using sand lysimeters. The crop coefficient (kc) were reestimated in order to meet the actual water consumption.