RESUMEN
Understanding the water content variations in Yunnan laterite (red loam soil, SR) in small-scale environments and exploring the potential for crop water-use efficiency (WUE) improvement are crucial for improving water-saving irrigation technologies used in greenhouse agriculture in Yunnan, China. In this study, a closed-loop model for calculating soil water in greenhouse potted cultivation was established based on water conservation. A Yunnan SR, yellow sand soil (SY), and a 1:1 SR-SY mixture (SM) subjected to root-zone micro-irrigation or surface-drip irrigation were experimentally examined to compare their water content variations and pepper WUEs. The results showed that the soil type and soil type-irrigation mode interaction had significant effects on both soil evaporation and pepper WUE, and that the variations in soil evaporation with respect to time can be expressed using a cubic polynomial function. In small-scale greenhouse cultivation, IG has good water-saving potential and is suitable for the SR (which has a better water-retention capacity), whereas IM is more suitable for the SY (which has a better water-penetration capacity). Mixing certain proportions of the SY into the SR will effectively impact the water content variations and crop WUE and provide opportunities for further improving the water-saving efficiency.