If you don’t currently treat your water it may be time to seriously consider a treatment system. Along with sourcing pathogen-free cuttings, making sure your water source and water-holding tanks are problem free, and practicing good sanitation in your greenhouse, water treatment to reduce pathogen loads is an important step to reducing loses from fungal and bacterial diseases.
Looking into water treatment technologies can be overwhelming, though, as there are many options out there and you need to consider your operation specifics. Add in the initial and ongoing costs, and the decision can be a complex one.
A few years ago, Flowers Canada Ontario (FCO) and the Soil Resource Group (SRG) came up with a guidance document to assist growers in choosing water treatment systems. It covers why you might want to treat your water and which systems are best for common problems like sediment, fungi, viral or bacterial issues. It also addresses costs, installation, space requirements and maintenance considerations.
For more information, please check out the guidance document or contact the authors or a water treatment specialist.
Before getting started on an installation, there are many aspects to consider:
What is the size of your operation? Do you have any future plans for expansion? How do your production cycles work? Do you have heavy seasons, or fairly predictable week-to-week production? What’s your water source? Does your irrigation water come from a well, city or do you collect rainwater? Does the source change over the year? Do you blend water sources? What’s the water quality, and what is the volume you need to treat? Does it have sediment, or have you had disease issues? What types of crops do you grow?
Read the complete article at www.onfloriculture.com.
