| Summary: | Container crop production has become increasingly popular, but daily water requirements of those crops from transplanting to marketable or harvestable stages are largely unavailable. To address this concern, daily water consumption of two container-grown fern species, <i>Davallia bullata</i> and <i>Nephrolepis exaltata</i> from initial transplanting to marketable size were studied using a canopy closure model. Daily actual evapotranspiration (ET<sub>A</sub>) of <i>D. bullata</i> ranged from 4.6 mL to 76.5 mL with an average of 29.0 mL per plant per day. The mean cumulative ET<sub>A</sub> was 13.2 L during 431 days of production spanning from 8 November 2006 to 4 February 2008. Two crops of <i>N. exaltata</i> were produced. Daily ET<sub>A</sub> per <i>N. exaltata</i> plant produced in crop 1 varied from 19.0 to 241.2 mL with an average of 69.5 mL, and daily ET<sub>A</sub> of crop 2 differed from 5.7 to 136.8 mL with a mean of 74.0 mL. Both crops had a cumulative ET<sub>A</sub> of 9.4 L. Such differences in daily ET<sub>A</sub> and cumulative ET<sub>A</sub> between the two fern species raised further concern of irrigation practices in commercial foliage plant production as multiple species are commonly produced in one greenhouse and share the same irrigation schedule. Comparing daily ET<sub>A</sub> and cumulative ET<sub>A</sub> values of the ferns with the other studied foliage plants indicated that daily ET<sub>A</sub> and cumulative ET<sub>A</sub> are species specific. Therefore, to improve irrigation efficiency, daily ET<sub>A</sub> and cumulative ET<sub>A</sub> values of major container-grown plants should be established. Implementing the research-based daily ET<sub>A</sub> and cumulative ET<sub>A</sub> in container plant production should reduce irrigation water leaching and runoff and conserving freshwater resources.
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