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 Willoway Nurseries

 

Willoway Nurseries is one of the largest wholesale growers of quality nursery stock in Ohio and ranks within the top 40 nationwide. Willoway encompasses approximately 500 acres of field production, 300 acres of container stock, and 5 acres of greenhouses. We carry over 1,500 different plant varieties including shade trees, ornamental trees and shrubs, evergreens, perennials, and flowering annuals.

 

Willoway Nurseries, Inc. utilizes the latest technology in cultural practices to consistently produce stock that is significantly high in quality. The company was one of the first Midwestern nurseries to dedicate large portions of production to pot-in-pot growing. Willoway is also on the forefront of producing tree liners in retractable-roof greenhouses.

 

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Irrigation Scheduling Project: A precision irrigation experiment has been under way for the past two years.  We use double blind water application to remotely apply irrigation.

 

Specifically, Dr. Bauerle uses species-specific process models to calculate irrigation requirements for Tilia and Acer sp. Twice daily Dr. Bauerle accesses on site weather station data from Colorado, performs model calculations, and makes cyclic (10 am and 2 pm) irrigation recommendations via e-mail. A student assistant applies the prescribed irrigation independent of the control. 

 

Production Objectives: The primary objectives of this study are to apply the model estimates to precisely apply water, based in individual species requirements and to determine the precise amount of water required for the growth of these species. 

 

We are also monitoring tree growth over time and logging water use for both the model-irrigated trees as well as blocks which are independently irrigated with no knowledge of the model predictions.

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Preliminary Results:

Results to date show that process model remote application has decreased water application by > 300% and warrants species specific irrigation (~47% variation between Tilia and Acer sp. water needs).

 

Growth metrics indicate no negative impact on production. The primary objectives are proof of concept of species specific water use estimates derived from process model calculations and to quantify species specific water application savings and use differences.