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Determining Soil Field Capacity Method

This document describes how to determine the field capacity of a soil in the laboratory using the soil column method. Field capacity is the maximum amount of water that a soil can retain against gravity. The method involves filling a tube with a soil sample, adding water, and measuring the retained moisture after the water has drained. This allows for the characterization of the soil and calculation of how much water is available for plants.
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0% found this document useful (0 votes)
13 views6 pages

Determining Soil Field Capacity Method

This document describes how to determine the field capacity of a soil in the laboratory using the soil column method. Field capacity is the maximum amount of water that a soil can retain against gravity. The method involves filling a tube with a soil sample, adding water, and measuring the retained moisture after the water has drained. This allows for the characterization of the soil and calculation of how much water is available for plants.
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

RELATIONSHIP WATER SOIL PLANT ATMOSPHERE

[Link]
Before calculating the water that we will provide to a crop with irrigation,
several parameters must be taken into account among which are
find the root depth (depth they reach)
the roots of a certain crop at its peak stage of
vegetative development), and the amount of useful water or interval of
available moisture, which theoretically corresponds to the amount of
water available for plants in the soil.
The latter is defined as the difference between two parameters of
soil moisture: field capacity and wilting point
permanent.
In this laboratory practice, the first has been determined
of these two parameters (field capacity), to know and
characterize the soil according to the maximum amount of water that
can retain under natural humidity conditions.

2. OBJECTIVES

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RELATIONSHIP WATER SOIL PLANT ATMOSPHERE

Properly apply the method called 'method of'


the soil column" to determine the capacity of
soil field.
Determine the field capacity of the soil in question.

3. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

Definition of Field Capacity (F.C.)


It is the moisture content of a soil, after the excess has
has been drained and the descent speed reduced to a degree
considerable.

It has been determined in the laboratory that when a soil is in


field capacity, the water content is retained with a
tension of approximately 1/3 atmosphere. A soil is at
field capacity after two or five days of irrigation.

Field capacity is a constant characteristic of each soil and


it fundamentally depends on the texture, amount of organic matter
and the degree of compaction of this.
If we saturate a soil, the amount of water that remains retained in the
holes without being dragged down by the weight of gravity, it's the Capacity of

Field Capacity. Field capacity is assessed


by the volume percentage of water present concerning the soil
dry.
Field capacity represents the moisture content of the
soil, when the water it contains stops flowing by gravity,
when this phenomenon occurs, free or gravitational water stops
to exist in the soil. In soil that has good internal drainage, the
maximum water storage capacity is represented
for the field capacity.

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WATER SOIL PLANT ATMOSPHERE RELATIONSHIP

The moisture content of a soil, on the other hand, cannot


exceed its field capacity but for short periods,
unless there is some obstacle to the flow of water.
The method used to obtain the field capacity was the
hose method or also called column method
soil, and the following formula was used.

(Psh−Pss)
CC = x100
Pss

Psh = Wet soil weight.


Pss = Dry soil weight.
According to the textural class to which a certain
soil can be considered within the following acceptable ranges of
field capacity:

CAPACITY OF
CLASS
FIELD (%)
TEXTURE
AL
Sandy -5.0
FRANCO ARENOSO -13
FRANCO LIMOSO 20.5 - 33.0
clayey 33.0 - 50.0
SOURCE Blair, E. Manual of Irrigation and Floods.

This parameter is very important when determining the


amount of useful water or interval of available moisture (IDH)
Some guiding values are as follows:

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This means that in a silty-clay soil with a range of


Available Moisture of 185 mm of water per meter of depth
of soil, in a cotton crop that has a depth of
roots of 0.9 m, the theoretically available amount of water
corresponds to a water sheet of height 166.5 mm.

4. MATERIALS AND METHODS


The method used in the laboratory practice for the
determination of field capacity is what is detailed in
continuation:

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Soil Column Method


Materials:
a. Plastic tubes
wire mesh
c. Circular filter paper

d. Tamiz
e. Punch
f. Perforated stopper

Procedure:
Soil samples are air-dried.
They are sifted through a 2 mm mesh.
3. They are placed in transparent plastic tubes 30 cm long by
3.7 cm of internal diameter. At the bottom end of the tube, a
a filter paper or a wire mesh with a perforated stopper.
4. The amount of soil placed inside the tube is 250 cm;
to achieve a compaction or arrangement similar to that of the field,
pierce the ground with a punch as it empties
5. Add distilled water to the soil column; from 30 to 35 ml for
sandy textured soils and 50 to 60 ml for clay soils.
6. Let rest for 16 hours in sandy soils, 24 hours in soils
French and approximately 30 hours on clayey textured soils.
But the precise time will be when from one hour to the next it no longer decreases.

the soil moisture


7. Extract the sample from the column using a rod to which it is attached.
adapt a rubber stopper with a smaller diameter than the plastic tube.

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8. Divide the sample into three parts, take the central portion and
determine its moisture content which will be equal to the capacity
of the field.

MshM−
C C = Pscc = Mss
x100

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