Soil Moisture Conditions

1
Soil Moisture Conditions
Saturation Field Capacity Wilting Point
Too Wet Ideal Too Dry No air
space. Balance between No available air -
water - soil. water.
2
Waterlogging
No root development Water-logged soil
Ground line
Normal root zone
3
Water Holding Capacity (WHC)
Coarse Textured Soil Fine Textured Soil
High WHC
Low WHC
The larger the soil particle size, the lower the
water holding capacity.
4
Water Intake Rate
Coarse Soil Fine Soil
High Water-Intake Rate Low Water-Intake Rate
Generally, the larger the soil particle size,
the faster the water intake rate.
5
Field Capacity

• When all of the excess water has drained from the
  soil it is said to be at Field Capacity (FC).

6
Wilting Point

• The point at which soil moisture is so low that
  plants can no longer pull water from it.
• Plants will die unless watered immediately.

7
Permanent Wilting Point

• The point at which the plant has lost so much
  water that it will not revive even if watered
  immediately.

8
Available Water (AW)

• The water which is available to the plants.
• AW is found by subtracting the wilting point
  measurement from the field capacity measurement.

• AW FC - WP