February 2023 - 20

PRODUCTION
High alkalinity is common in Michigan, but other areas
can experience low alkalinity. " We recommend using
calcium- or magnesium-based feeds to try to balance
low alkalinity water, although you may need to look at
amending your mixes to add some additional buffer to pH
changes, if not, " Bourdon says.
" We inject sulfuric acid into the well water to bring the
alkalinity down to 120 ppm and add ionic copper at 1.5
to 2.0 ppm to control algae and fungus on the farm, "
Versolato says.
EC AND pH
Jeff Stoven, West Coast
propagation production
manager for Bailey
Nurseries in Oregon,
currently doesn't do too
much to alter the water.
" The pH can fluctuate
seasonally, considering it's
all surface water and the
alkalinity is consistently
on the lower end, so we
haven't seen a great need
for alterations regarding
pH. Sodium hypochlorite
is monitored and adjusted
throughout the year, "
he says.
more issues into the greenhouse. All water types come
with problems, and using a water filtration system can be
a great solution to improve water quality in your operation.
Bailey Nurseries in Minnesota uses a desanding filtration
system after the water comes from the well to reduce
particles and also has filters on all the traveling irrigators,
Versolato says.
In Oregon, Bailey filters the water multiple times during
its greenhouse irrigation process.
" We use pressurized
Bailey Nurseries uses a desanding filtration system to
reduce particles.
sand filters for the
water that is pumped
from the reservoirs. The
greenhouse/propagation
water is filtered by two sets
of sand filters before it's
used in the greenhouse
area, " Stoven says. " These
sand filters are inspected
and filled on an annual
basis or as needed. At each
greenhouse there is an
inline mesh/screen filter
for anything coming out of
the hose or pipe. "
At Mast Young Plants,
EC is another factor to
consider and dealing with
it can be challenging.
" In areas that deal with
a lot of soluble salts or
sodium in their water, it is
important to be conscious
of this and leach with
each watering, " Bourdon
says. " It may be worth
incorporating a slowrelease
fertilizer and watering with clear water only.
This will take some trial and error to find the right rates
that work best for each crop and should be adjusted
based on the time of year to adjust for environmental
conditions. Other treatment options like installing a
reverse osmosis system can be costly, depending on the
size of your operation. "
WATER FILTRATION SYSTEMS
Well and surface water will often contain silt, causing
irrigation nozzles to clog, while slow-moving water
sources can contain algae and pathogens, bringing even
20
FEBRUARY 2023 GPNMAG.COM
water quality has been an
ongoing issue since the
facility opened in 1997.
" We drilled the well
This reverse osmosis system nearly purifies the water at
Mast Young Plants.
into an aquifer that met
our size requirement and
planned to adjust the water
chemically as needed
to suit our crops, " says
Michael DeBerti, head
grower. " The aquifer we
chose had high alkalinity
(close to 400 ppm
bicarbonate) and a lot of
iron, including iron-forming bacteria in the water, which
created growing challenges completely different from our
other facilities just a few miles away.
" We installed a reverse osmosis (RO) system after
several years of struggling with water quality. RO is
an expensive process that nearly purifies water by
removing salt from it. Removing the salt also removes the
bicarbonate, which makes adjusting the pH much easier, "
DeBerti says. This greatly improved growing practices,
allowing growers to easily adjust pH as needed.
The process of making RO water is slow and, with a
facility that demands a high amount of water daily, it
http://www.GPNMAG.COM
February 2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of February 2023
