Purpose Salinization is one of the main challenges for sustainable development of irrigated agriculture in arid areas, and its formation process is closely related to the movement of soil water and salts. Therefore, understanding soil water-salt dynamics is an important prerequisite for prediction and control of salinization. The purpose of this study is to investigate water-salt dynamics in oasis farmland soil during maize growth period. Materials and methods A soil column experiment was conducted in the study, and the soil used in the experiment came from irrigated farmland in an oasis area in Northwest China. To evaluate the effect of cultivation years on soil water-salt dynamics, soils from farmlands with cultivation years of 20 years (Till20) and 50 years (Till50) were selected. Soil water content (SWC), electrical conductivity (EC), and soil temperature were continuously monitored by Decagon 5TE sensor during maize growth period. Results and discussion The results showed that water-salt dynamics were different between the two farmlands. In Till20, SWC and EC increased with soil depth overall, while they increased first and then decreased with soil depth in Till50. Except for deep soil layers, SWC, EC, and their coefficient of variation (CV) were higher in Till50. The water storage of most soil layers in both croplands decreased after the growth period. In Till20, soil salts showed an increasing trend after the growth period, with an average increase of 29%. However, in Till50, salts only increased (by 34.7%) in the topsoil, while the other soil layers showed a desalting trend. There was a significant positive correlation between salinity and water content in both farmlands, while the correlation between salinity and soil temperature was quite different between Till20 and Till50. Conclusions Soil salinity dynamics in oasis farmland was closely related to water content during crop growth period, and it was quite variant between croplands with different cultivation years. The soil salinity in farmland with shorter cultivation years increased more obviously in most soil layers after crops growth period, while the farmland with longer cultivation years tended to accumulate salts in topsoil. Therefore, the development of soil water and salt control measures in irrigated agriculture should take into account the influence of cultivation years.