Research regarding the use of the Piche evaporimeter for irrigation scheduling in cucumber under polyetilenne tunnel condition.

The paper is based on the research carried out in Husasău de Tinca, North Western Romania, during 2007-2009. Piche evaporimeter was installed in the middle of the polyetilenne tunnel and every morning the Piche evaporation was determined. The optimum water consumption was determined in two variants: 1) with mulch; 2) without mulch. To maintain soil moisture under polyetilenne tunnel condition at depth 0-50 cm between easily available water content and field capacity determined to irrigate with 3430 m 3 /ha in 2007, with 2890 m 3 /ha in 2008 and 3340 m 3 /ha in 2009. Water consumption of cucumbers under polyetilenne tunnel condition was influenced by climatic conditions and crop system with mulch. In the year with the highest daily temperature average was registered the highest water consumption, and in the variant without mulch the total water consumption was higher than the water consumption from the variant with mulch. The crop coeficient ,,Kc” was determined like ratio between monthly water consumption of the cucumber and Piche evaporation from every month. The values of the crop coefficients had the specifical sizes for every month and variant. The average value of the crop coefficients ,,Kc” for the variant with mulch were smaller than the crop coefficient values determined in the variant without mulch.