Water Requirements of Bird Cherry (Padus avium Mill.)

Abstract

Bird cherry (Padus avium Mill.) is a medicinal and ornamental plant. Its flowers, fruits and bark are used in herbal medicine. Bird cherry is planted in parks, along roads and also used in the landscape and reclamation plantations. The first three years after planting determines the seedling survival rate of introduced plants. During this period, the plants should have adequate soil moisture, which can be provided by the properly designed and operated irrigation system. The aim of the research was to assess the bird cherry water needs during the first three years after planting. As a measure of water requirements, the potential evapotranspiration (Etp) of the plants was applied. The modified for Polish conditions by Żakowicz (2010) Blaney-Criddle’s formula using the adjusted crop coefficients was applied. It was assumed that the growing season of plants starts on April 1 and ends on October 31. The estimates were carried out for five agro-climatic regions of Poland during the years 1981-2010. The rainfall deficiency (or excess) in the period from April to October was calculated based on the difference between the plants water needs (showed as Etp) and the precipitation totals. The average water requirements of bird cherry in all studied regions during the period of the highest water needs (July-August) were 233 mm. The highest water requirements (around 242 mm) in the period July- August occurred in the central-north-western and central-eastern regions. The lowest water requirements (227 mm) were noted in the north-eastern and southeastern regions. In each decade of the long-term, a significant rising tendency of water needs in the period July-August by 5 mm was noted. [...]