Information Sheet

IS13107

Soil water holding capacity

Soil water is made up of plant available and plant unavailable
water. Plant available water is the water in the soil profile
between the full point and permanent wilting point (when the
plant can no longer be revived by irrigation or rainfall). Within
plant available water is readily available water (RAW). This is
the water the crop can easily access. When the RAW has been
used up the soil is regarded as being at the refill point.

Soil texture
Many soil tests now report soil texture. If the test doesnt have
soil texture then it can be determined by hand texturing (see
chart).
If there are different soil layers within the effective rooting
zone the soil texture for each layer needs to be determined.

Irrigation scheduling aims to replace the RAW. But before

scheduling decisions can be made the amount of RAW in the
root zone needs to be known.

Calculating RAW
Once the rooting depth and soil texture are known the RAW
in the root zone can be calculated by multiplying the depth of
the root zone (m) by the typical RAW (mm/m) at a given soil
tension (Table 1).

To determine the RAW you need to know:

T he effective rooting depth how much of the soil profile
are roots accessing?

The soil tension where crops begin to stress for sugarcane

this is about -100 kPa.

For example: Rooting depth is 40 cm; soil texture is a sandy

loam; soil tension for irrigation is -100 kPa. From Table 1 the
RAW (mm/m of soil) at -100 kPa is 70 mm. RAW in the root
zone is then 70 mm 0.4 m = 28 mm.

Effective rooting depth

Using RAW for scheduling

The best way to determine the effective rooting depth is to dig

a hole in the crop row and measure how far down the majority
of the roots go.

When the RAW is known, crop water use numbers (see Crop
Water Use Information Sheet IS13023) can be used to calculate
when the crop will again require irrigation. If the RAW is 28
mm and the crop is using 14 mm per week; it will need to be
irrigated in two weeks time.

T he soil texture soil texture influences the soils water

holding capacity.

Table 1: Typical RAW for a range of soil types, sugarcane

experiences stress at -100 kPa.

Readily available water (mm water per m soil) between field capacity and different stress levels
Soil texture

Crop stress level

-20 kPa

-40 kPa

-60 kPa

-100 kPa

-200 kPa

Sandy

30

35

35

40

45

Loamy sand

45

50

55

60

65

Sandy loam

45

60

65

70

85

Loam

45

65

75

85

105

Sandy clay loam

40

60

70

80

100

Clay loam

30

55

65

80

105

Light clay

27

46

57

70

90

Medium clay

24

43

55

65

83

Heavy clay

21

40

53

60

81

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Determining soil texture by hand texturing

Place approximately 25 g (2 tablespoons) of soil into the palm of your hand and add water gradually until it is moist.
Knead the soil to break down any lumps and make it mouldable like putty.
Add more water

Does the soil remain in

a ball when squeezed?

No

Soil is too dry

Add dry soil to soak up excess water

No

Soil is too wet

Does soil form a ribbon when squeezed between thumb and forefinger?
Allow it to break under its own weight, how long is the ribbon?

No

SAND

No

LOAMY
SAND

Ribbon is weak and less

than 25 mm long

Ribbon is 25 to 50 mm
long

Ribbon is strong and

longer than 50 mm

Slight coherence, feels

gritty/sandy

Distinct coherence,
feels gritty/sandy

Easily moulded with a

sandy feel

SANDY LOAM

No

Feels smooth and silky

SILTY LOAM

SANDY CLAY
LOAM

No

SILTY CLAY
LOAM

No

Easily moulded and feels

smooth and silky

Feels smooth and silky

No

SANDY CLAY

No

SILTY CLAY/
LIGHT CLAY

No

Feels spongy and greasy

Feels smooth with no
sandiness

Smooth and easily

moulded like plasticine

CLAY LOAM

MEDIUM /HEAVY
CLAY

LOAM

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