Phytech

Western U.S. growers are about to enter one of the season’s first critical decision points: When to start irrigating?

US Head of Agronomy Ziv Attia, PhD has clear, practical guidance on grounding that decision in plant and soil signals - not the calendar.
Well said Ziv!

"Irrigation should be a biological decision not a social one", says US Head of Agronomy Ziv Attia, PhD, as temperatures begin to rise across California and ET projections trend upward, irrigation season feels like it’s right around the corner. That early-season warmth can create pressure to start watering, especially when neighboring orchards begin irrigating."

But starting irrigation or fertigation too early is often ineffective and can actually limit crop potential. When roots and soil biology are not yet fully active, applied water and nutrients are underutilized, leading to inefficiencies that are expensive to correct later in the season.

At Phytech, we encourage growers to ground early irrigation decisions in plant and soil signals rather than calendar dates or neighboring orchards irrigation habits.

From my experience these four simple data points can help determine true readiness:

1. Soil Temperature
Cool soils suppress root metabolic activity and slow the soil microbiome. Until temperatures rise into an active range, the tree cannot effectively use water or nutrients.

2. Soil Moisture Dynamics
Once roots become active, moisture sensors begin to show a characteristic stair-step uptake pattern, typically within the top 6–18 inches of the profile. Without this pattern, the tree is not yet extracting water meaningfully.

3. Maximum Daily Shrinkage (MDS)
Low MDS indicates low water demand. As atmospheric demand and tree activity increase, MDS rises gradually, signaling that irrigation will soon be needed.

4. Trunk Growth Trends
As assimilation increases, measurable trunk diameter expansion follows. Growth is one of the clearest indicators that the trees are physiologically “on.”

If at least 2 of these 4 indicators are not yet present, irrigation can likely wait.

🏆 Phytech 1: fungus 0. This is the story of how Phytech’s system, together with great "plant-detective" work by CSM Meir Nissan, helped identify a cotton disease, before it could cause serious damage.

"At Kibbutz Yavne, one of our cotton growers began to see unexpected signals: reduced plant growth and underutilized soil water (As can be seen in the green graph down trend), says Nissan,

"Phytech’s integrated plant-soil-irrigation sensors, along with NDVI mapping, flagged the anomaly early. These subtle indicators pointed to a potential infection of Macrophomina, the fungus behind Charcoal Rot Disease (CRD), which can lead to severe wilting and plant death if left untreated".

Thanks to real-time alerts, the grower responded immediately, and a field inspection confirmed the presence of disease symptoms across the area.

The grower swiftly sent samples to the lab, validated the diagnosis, and took action - relocating the project to a healthier zone before the infection could spread. It’s a powerful reminder of what happens when data meets boots in the field: Early detection, fast decisions, and crops protected.

🚀 Growing better. Together. Now in Mexico! 🌎🌱

Thrilled to announce that Phytech is now operating in Mexico, with our first installations already underway!

Real-time insights. Smarter decisions. Stronger harvests. With Phytech, farmers and technology grow together.

Rooted in trust. Driven by data.

A big thank you for Mexico CSM Arturo Juárez Salazar, and Sergio Flores Leal, and LATAM Manager Ilan Liwski for making things happen.