Beta-ray Gauging Technique for Measuring Leaf Water Content Changes of Citrus Seedlings as Affected by the Moisture Status in the Soil

The beta-ray gauging technique was used to measure the relativechanges occurring in the water content of sour orange and sweetlime leaves as a result of soil wetting and drying cycles. Promethium-147served as the radiation source and was found suitable for measuringchanges in citrus leaf thickness within the range of 20 mg/cm²(when soil moisture content was at ‘pot capacity’)to 10 mg/cm² (when soil moisture dropped to wilting point).By using the correlation between beta-ray gauging measurements,leaf thickness, and relative turgidity, it is possible to determinethe status of water in citrus leaves under different soil moistureconditions.