Tomatoes and cucumbers were irrigated by sprinkling and trickling, using equal quantities of water containing 800 mg Cl/liter and having an electrical conductivity of 3.6 mmho/cm. Sprinkling produced higher contents of soluble and diffusible ions, free ammonia, and free amino acids in the leaves, and reduced starch, protein, pigments, and relative turgidity. The yield of ‘Moneymaker’ tomatoes irrigated by trickling was more than double that obtained by sprinkling, while no yield at all was achieved from sprinkled ‘Marmande’ tomatoes and cucumbers. The differences in plant response between the irrigation methods seem to be the result of salinity. Pepper plants irrigated with water containing 95 mg Cl/liter and having an electrical conductivity of 0.6 mmho/cm had a higher content of soluble and diffusible ions in the leaves when irrigated by sprinkling than when irrigated by trickling. There was no difference in yield between the 2 methods.
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Gornat et al. (1973) studied this question.