Researchers affiliated with the University of Hohenheim’s Institute of Crop Science conducted a study of the effects of subsurface drip irrigation (SDI) on cannabis cultivation. The study published in the Journal of Cannabis Research showed that SDI has a beneficial impact on irrigation water amount, weed infestation, yield variables, and irrigation water use efficiency.
Cannabis cultivators commonly use drip irrigation (DI), but this method involves the potential risk of surface runoff and water loss through evaporation. Subsurface drip irrigation (SDI) minimizes evaporation losses and potentially increases yield. The researchers compared the effects of DI and SDI on weed infestation, water usage, inflorescence yield, and water use efficiency of three CBD-rich cannabis chemotype III genotypes in an outdoor foil tunnel cultivation system.
The findings indicated that SDI reduced irrigation water usage by 18.6% compared to DI. SDI also reduced weed infestation by 93.2%. Data analysis also demonstrated that inflorescence yield increased by 5% and cannabidiol (CBD) concentration by 9%. SDI significantly increased the CBD yield per square meter. SDI also resulted in better water use efficiency of inflorescence yield and significantly higher CBD concentration compared to DI.
This study demonstrated that subsurface drip irrigation has beneficial effects on irrigation water amount, weed infestation, yield variables, and irrigation water use efficiency in an outdoor foil tunnel production system. The study’s results indicated that implementing SDI instead of DI can significantly decrease irrigation water use and weed infestation while increasing inflorescence and CBD yield.
Given that medicinal cannabis production is projected to increase substantially in the coming years, further research is needed to assess the suitability of more sustainable approaches for cannabis cultivation. SDI used in outdoor foil tunnel cultivation systems can mitigate several environmental challenges that impact water use, weed biomass, plant quality, and yield.
Source: Journal of Cannabis Research
