How monitoring the soil can mitigate stress in greenhouse tomatoes

For tomatoes grown in high tunnel or hoop houses, stress can lead to Blossom-end Rot (BER), a disorder that can cause poor fruit quality or even loss of crop. BER is caused by calcium deficiency when water intake is restricted, typically through inconsistent irrigation, inadequate soil moisture retention, high soil salinity, or severe root pruning.

The best way to prevent Blossom-end Rot in greenhouse tomatoes is to monitor for:

• Soil salinity. Elevated soluble salt levels increase plant stress.
• Soil moisture levels. Avoid letting soil get dry out between watering, or to overwater.
• Adequate crop intake of moisture at the appropriate root level.
• Maintaining moderate humidity levels with good airflow.

Soil salinity in high tunnel or hoop houses

Since a high tunnel or hoop house prevents cleansing rains from reaching the planting medium, the risk is that salinity might reach unacceptable levels from salts introduced through fertilizers, pesticides, composts, and/or irrigation water. Excessive soluble salt levels in the soil will create plant stress. While growers may periodically conduct soil tests, many don’t include a test for soluble salt levels. And even if they do, testing is costly and takes time. Technology such as the AquaSpy below-ground soil moisture monitoring technology continuously monitors soil conditions, delivering real-time reports on electrical conductivity, or Ec for each layer of the soil.  This real-time information helps growers address salt buildup before it becomes an issue. While crops grown in high tunnel such at tomatoes, lettuce, or peppers are relatively salt tolerant, any crop can be impacted if salinity reaches an unacceptable level. Once that point is reached, the crop can no longer adequately update available moisture.

How to monitor moisture levels

Another avenue to stress is inconsistent or inadequate soil moisture levels. Continuous soil moisture monitoring technology delivers real-time data so growers can ensure that soil moisture levels never exceed pre-set upper or lower thresholds for their crop type. Layer by layer soil moisture insights give growers the ability to precisely control irrigation based in their crop needs, never letting the soil dry out while avoiding overwatering.

How to monitor crop moisture uptake

Crop health is directly impacted by how well the crop uses the available moisture. Even if the soil is perfectly moist at the surface, does the crop have moisture where it needs it in the active root zone? If salts are building up, is the crop able to take up the moisture where it needs it? AquaSpy technology delivers critical insights that show how well your greenhouse crops are using the water you are giving them.