Oxygenated irrigation water is an effective way to deliver oxygen to the roots. Plant growth is affected by several factors that benefit from a high oxygen content in the root environment. Oxygen supports the well-being of the root system and microbiological balance. Sufficient oxygen content in irrigation water also improves nutrient absorption and reduces root diseases.

Oxygenated irrigation water can reduce losses, increase yields, accelerate plant growth, improve root health, and reduce the need for fertilizers, pesticides, and irrigation water – resulting in improved productivity and profitability.

The oxygen content of water can be increased energy-efficiently, for example, using nanobubble technology, which is one of the most advanced ways to optimize the oxygen content of water. Nanobubbles allow most of the oxygen added to the water to be retained in the water without the oxygen escaping from the water into the air.

Although nanobubbles are bubbles, they are so small that they do not rise and escape from the water like regular bubbles, so most of the oxygen supplied also remains in the water. When nanobubbles are produced, the dissolved oxygen concentration also increases quickly and energy-efficiently.

However, the oxygen stored in nanobubbles is storage oxygen, which is not visible on dissolved oxygen meters. Therefore, when the dissolved oxygen concentration shows, for example, 15 mg/l = 15 ppm, the total oxygen concentration of the water oxygenated with oxygen nanobubble technology (= dissolved oxygen + oxygen stored in nanobubbles) is actually at least three times higher than the DO reading. Therefore, increasing the oxygen content of water using nanobubble technology is completely different from adding oxygen using any other technology that only increases the dissolved oxygen concentration.

Plants growing in a growing medium can survive on irrigation water with a low oxygen concentration, but their growth success depends entirely on the porosity, aeration and water permeability of the growing medium. Most plants benefit from irrigation water with an oxygen concentration that exceeds the natural maximum, i.e. the oxygen concentration that standing water in an open container reaches when in contact with room air. Therefore, it is a good idea for irrigation water to reach a dissolved oxygen concentration of about 14-20 mg/l at its oxygenation point.

When the irrigation water reaches the plants from the oxygenation tank, its DO concentration is likely to be lower than when it left the tank. However, this is not a problem if the oxygen concentration has been increased using nanobubble technology, which stores a multiple amount of oxygen in nanobubbles, even if the DO value has already dropped close to the natural oxygen concentration (e.g. 10 mg/l in 15-degree water). The main thing is that the DO concentration of the water has temporarily risen above the natural dissolved oxygen concentration when it leaves the oxygenation tank.

Yes. The increased oxygen content promotes a healthier and plentiful root system and strengthens the beneficial microbial population, which helps to prevent pathogens that take advantage of the oxygen deficiency in the root zone. When the microbiome is abundant and diverse, pathogens do not have the space to multiply and reach population sizes that would be able to infect a plant which has developed a strong immune system due to high oxygen content. Oxyfertigation can also help to suppress the already prevailing infections caused by e.g. pythium.