The Role of Innovative Gradek Beads in Water Evaporation and
Retention and in Supporting Plant Growth
American-Eurasian J. Agric. & Environ. Sci., 15 (5): 863-867,
2015
N. Ameiri1, S. Masoud2, N.I. Alkhalaileh3 4A. Ismail4, T. Gradek5 and 3S. Herzallah3
An experiment was conducted to evaluate the role of the innovative Gradek beads in protecting, regulating and saving plant irrigation water when used as a bed between 1 to 10 cm depth in a sandy soil. The plant growth and water retention were evaluated through vegetative plant growth including plant height and, dry and fresh weight and moisture contents of soil after irrigation within different time periods (0-72 hr). The experiment involved planting two types of plants (tomato and cucumber) for 5 weeks. Innovative Gradek
beads caused retention of about 50% water and about 30% after 24 and 72 hour of irrigation, respectively. The vegetative plant part was also improved when using beads, the height of the plant increased by >20% and the root length decreased by about 30%. The beads also, reduced the evaporation of water by > 50 as well as preventing the growth of molds in a water storage container.
