The Vinduino field sensor station is designed to support 4 low-cost soil moisture sensors, typically 3 sensors to be installed within the plant’s root zone, and one sensor to detect soil moisture below the root zone. For grape vines, the recommended sensor installation depths are one foot, two feet, four feet and five feet for the drainage sensor.
Vinduino originates from a project for improving irrigation decisions at the Van der Lee vineyard, a 4 planted acre vineyard in Temecula California.
Irrigation quantity was calculated based on ET0 data and guidelines by UC Davis’ Larry Williams, and manually corrected using soil moisture data measured at 4 different depth levels.
- 2016 season water saving: 25% at harvest time, 1.9 million liters (500,000 gallons), irrigation water
- No loss of yield and wine grape quality
- 2015 cost saving on water and labor was $1,925
- Project component cost <<$1000
