Best Management Practices Workshop for Nurseries: Steam Sanitation and Disease Identification
Recycling used containers and media are critical control points where weeds and diseases may infest nursery crops. Disinfestation of these items is often overlooked or compromised in nursery production because of the labor and time involved, and buying new pots is costly.
Heat treatments such as hot water dip or steaming do not require that the pots be cleaned first, as with disinfectants. Steaming may prove to be more labor-saving and less costly than chemical disinfectants or hot water dip tanks for treating containers that will be re-used.
Steaming also has the potential to effectively eliminate weed seeds and pathogens in recycled media.
At these workshops, options for growers will be investigated and estimates that include costs for purchase and operation of steaming equipment and other steaming costs will be discussed. Nurseries will be able to determine whether steaming used pots and media is a viable option for their business.
Agenda – with links to pdf versions of presentations.
Locations and Dates:
| WSU Mount Vernon Research and Extension Center
Sakuma Auditorium 16650 WA-536, Mt Vernon, WA 98273 Wednesday, February 17, 2016 |
WSU Puyallup Research and Extension Center
Allmendinger Center 2606 West Pioneer, Puyallup, WA 98371 Wednesday, February 24, 2016 |