Since the roots are constantly growing, it is difficult to know just where and how much water should be applied. Using the weighing lysimeter at the Kearney Agricultural Center, we have obtained young tree water use values over a three year period. These data were used to develop the numbers shown in Table 1, page 3. Multiply these together to give an estimate of tree volume. The table gives estimates of the amount of water used during the months of the season by trees of varying volumes.
Units are in gallons per tree per week.
For instance, a tree with a volume of 200 cubic feet will need 67 gallons of water each week in July. Values within the table may need to be altered for any given orchard because of the following factors. The table assumes high efficiency since our trees were irrigated with multiple drip emitters per tree. For most flood or furrow irrigated orchards, application efficiency is usually poor and more water may be required. Current weather conditions.