Soil moisture distribution, root-trunk sap flow dynamics and yields of peach trees under the condition of different root
zone wetting patterns were investigated by means of Tube-TDR (Time Domain Reflectometry) and
heat pulse technology. The results show that soil moisture moves deeply apart from root zone and cannot be up-taken high efficiently by root system in Both Partial Irrigation (BPI). But in Fixed Partial Irrigation (FPI) and Alternative Partial Irrigation (API) the movement of soil moisture is relatively slow which is in favor of efficient up-take of the root. The alternation of dry and wet promotes the
compensative effect of the root and elevates the uptake capability. The trunk sap flow for different types of irrigation correlates linearly with ET_0 and the coefficients in regressive equations are various. It means that the response of trunk sap flow in peach trees to atmospheric potential evaporation is various for different irrigation. Furthermore, the root sap flow nonlinearly correlates with ET_0 and the degree of correlation is low. It hints that the trunk sap flow is correlated with atmospheric potential evaporation more closely than root sap fow. The average yield of API and FPI is lower than that of BPI, but the amount of water use for API and FPI is less than that of BPI. It shows API and FPI can enhance the efficiency of irrigation water use.