Water moves through three distinct areas of a nursery:
- The water source
- The production area, and
- The drainage system
Consider all areas of the nursery when developing your water management plan.
Four ways to manage water at the nursery and discourage Phytophthora disease are:
- Use a water source free of Phytophthora.
- Avoid prolonged periods of leaf wetness and saturated soil.
- Evaluate your irrigation guidelines. For example, if you apply the same amount of water in hot and cold weather, plants likely are getting too much water in cold weather.
- Prevent standing water in production areas, and improve root-zone drainage.
We will discuss all these in detail in the following sections.