Apoyo en la evaluación de alternativas de riego para el Vivero La Florida de la subdirección técnica operativa del Jardín Botánico de Bogotá José Celestino Mutis

Abstract

In this work, the central question lies in what method could be used or improved to achieve effective and efficient irrigation in a nursery with a high heterogeneity of species and their rotation? In 2015, Zúñiga and Gutiérrez affirmed that, by irrigating the seedlings from below (basal end of the bag), water losses due to evaporation, runoff and wind are minimized, so that the soil can retain the supplied water to a greater extent. The purpose of this work, as it was to evaluate the current irrigation system in the nursery and to evaluate another method different from the conventional ones (irrigation by sub-irrigation), it is sought that there are improvements in irrigation methodologies in the nursery and to encourage the carry out more tests of this type in order to optimize resources and ultimately benefit urban trees and citizens. On this occasion, in the La Florida nursery of the José Celestino Mutis Botanical Garden of Bogotá, sub-irrigation was evaluated as an irrigation method, measuring the growth of three species subjected to it for four months, where stem length, diameter, number of leaves and leaf area; having as witnesses 9 individuals of the same species subjected to irrigation by poma. In this way, it would be determined which irrigation method benefits the growth of the seedlings to a greater extent. As a result, a greater growth was obtained, especially longitudinal, in the seedlings subjected to sub-irrigation with an insignificant difference to the growth of those subjected to irrigation with poma. Taking into account the benefits both for the plant material and for the nursery generated by the methodological or technical improvement applied to irrigation, a workshop was held for the operators of the La Florida nursery, where there was a theoretical and practical approach directed towards an identification of organoleptic way of the need for irrigation of plants. The operators were always open and receptive to the subject and it was recommended that these workshops be held more frequently. Finally, seeking to evaluate the efficiency in the current irrigation system of the nursery, an irrigation uniformity test was carried out, in which it would be compared for three different species with different types of foliage (due to the umbrella effect). Given the climatic conditions of the place, it was not possible to fully carry out this evaluation, although the data taken showed a high variation in uniformity and an irrigation efficiency of 40.82%, the procedure must be carried out completely to be able to infer with certainty in the results.