*2.3. Planting and Harvesting of Canola*

Canola seeds (NDOLA-01) were planted on 4 November 2018 and harvested from 4 February to 10 February 2019, according to the plant harvest stages (Table 1). Ten seeds were sowed from 1 to 3 cm soil depths and thinned so that the three healthiest seedlings remained in each lysimeter. All the planted seeds were germinated in eight days. Although iron deficiency was observed at the beginning of the experiment, beneficial nematodes, supplements, and chemicals were not applied during the experiment. Similarly, no fertilizer was used in this study.


**Table 1.** Canola harvesting dates.

To provide identical water curve conditions at the beginning of the experiment, all the lysimeters were filled with water to the soil surface in the lysimeters. Then, the valves at the bottom of the lysimeters were opened, and water in the lysimeters was drained. Approximately 30 h later, the valves were closed to maintain adequate moisture in the lysimeters for germination and the Mariotte bottles were connected and adjusted for the desired water table level for each lysimeter. For the control experiments, surface irrigation was applied based on the data obtained from the sensors, regardless of the germination stage in the lysimeters. Thus, starting from the first irrigation application, the irrigation timing and the amount of water needed for irrigation were determined by considering only the sensors' outcomes. Therefore, the germination stages in the columns were not monitored. As explained earlier, our goal was to maintain the packed soil field capacity at 0.32 cm3/cm<sup>3</sup> and readily available water content at 0.27 cm3/cm3.
