3 Secrets of Irrigation Water Taking Permits Revealed

Do you supplement your greenhouse irrigation water supply with well, canal or lake water in the summer months? If so, you need a Permit to Take Water! Read on for helpful tips, contact information and commonly asked questions from our engineering colleagues.

1. If you irrigate, from any water source in Ontario, you need a Permit To Take Water (PTTW) from the Ministry of Environment Conservation and Parks (MECP). (Not really a secret after all!)

What if it’s a pond on the farm property, not connected to anything?

YES, you still need a PTTW

What if it’s just a sand point well?

YES, you still need a PTTW

What if we take water from a municipal drain or roadside ditch?

YES, you still need a PTTW

You might pull water from wells, ponds or the roadside ditch in times of need. All require a PTTW.

All water sources require a PTTW: ponds, lakes, Great Lakes, streams, creeks, ditches, wetlands, springs and wells. Whether your water source is large or small, you need a PTTW.

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Water Treatment: What System Should I Choose?

Water media filter in a greenhouse — *Media filters can be an important step in water treatment: see this article in Greenhouse Grower.*

This is the 6th article in a series about water sanitation. The goal of this series is to get you reflecting on your own irrigation system before a problem occurs.

If you’re following our series on water sanitation, you saw that previous posts covered where problems are likely to occur in your greenhouse, the types of pathogens found in water, where and how to sample your water and getting and interpreting a DNA test for pathogens in your water.

This post covers water treatment options, and was written by C. Dayboll with input from Phytoserv and Soil Resource Group.

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Water DNA Tests: Pros, Cons and Interpreting Results

This post was written by S. Jandricic and A. Wylie.

This is the fourth article in a series about water sanitation. The goal of this series is to get you reflecting on your own irrigation system before you are faced with a problem. The first post covered where problems are likely to occur in your greenhouse ; the 2nd covered the types of pathogens found in water and the 3rd covered where and how to sample your water.

Once you’ve got your water sample, this post will cover why water DNA tests are useful, and how to interpret the results. This is the next step towards identifying and then treating your water issues to prevent unnecessary fungal or bacterial disease in your greenhouse crops, and potentially save you thousands of dollars in crop losses or fungicide applications.

These posts make good refresher resources, so make sure to bookmark them!

Continue reading →

REPOST: Water Sanitation Part 1: Identifying Problems Before They Start

Spring is just around the corner, and this is historically the time of year where we get more calls about disease pressure and problems in the crop. This post is part of a series too get you reflecting on your own irrigation system before you are faced with a problem. We’ll re-post some older posts about on identifying problems in the greenhouse and how to test your water, while adding some new posts on interpreting lab test results, on-farm methods for disease monitoring, water treatment technology options and more. These will be good refresher resources, so make sure to bookmark them for future reference.

Ever wonder how water related disease issues just seem to pop up out of nowhere? You’ve never had a problem before, but suddenly things just aren’t looking right. The truth is that problems often go unnoticed while pathogen levels are low. Knowing potential innoculum sources and practicing good preventative measures can help to reduce the risk of a bigger problem. Continue reading “REPOST: Water Sanitation Part 1: Identifying Problems Before They Start” →

Nutrient Solution Analysis Projects for Greenhouses and Vertical Farms in Ontario (Flowers, Vegetables and Cannabis)

This post was written by Fadi Al-Daoud and Cara McCreary, greenhouse vegetable specialists with OMAFRA, and originally appeared on the ONgreenhousevegetables blog.

Subirrigation in a dutch tray of gerbera plants

The quality of water and nutrient solution used in controlled environment agriculture (CEA) production systems, such as greenhouses and vertical farms, is one of the most important factors that affect plant health and yield. Growers monitor water and nutrient solution quality by sending samples for analysis to determine the levels of nutrients and salts. They also use sensors to monitor pH and electrical conductivity (EC) regularly to determine necessary adjustments for the nutrient solution. Growers may also analyze the microbiome, the genetic material of all the bacteria, fungi, and viruses that live in their water and nutrient solution, to evaluate levels of harmful pathogens, such as Pythium and Phytophthora species that cause root rot.

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Is Your Water a Source of Plant Disease? How to Sample and Find Out.

Old rustic water pipe with running drinking water and plastic bottle being filled up, aid concept.

After reading the previous posts in this series, you’re now aware of WHICH pathogens can be spread through your irrigation water, WHERE they can accumulate, and WHY that’s important. We’re now moving on to posts covering WHAT you can do about it!

This post will walk you through how to sample water sources on your farm, and which tests you can run to determine if your water is helping – or hurting – your crop.

Continue reading “Is Your Water a Source of Plant Disease? How to Sample and Find Out.” →

Which Pathogens Should You Worry About in Your Water?

This is the second blog post in a series about water sanitation. The goal of this series is to get you reflecting on your own irrigation system before you are faced with a problem. Posts over the next few weeks will focus on identifying problems, interpreting lab tests, on-farm disease monitoring, and water treatment options. These will be good refresher resources, so make sure to bookmark them.

When it comes to talking about disease-related issues in greenhouse crops, one point of confusion is often oven WHICH pathogens CAN be transmitted by water. Some are obvious – we all know Pythium is water-borne. But what about other culprits, like Fusarium or Erwinia? Should you worry about these in your recirculating water?

Read more to find out when to suspect your irrigation water versus other factors when it comes to disease.

Continue reading “Which Pathogens Should You Worry About in Your Water?” →

Water Sanitation Series Part 1: Identifying potential problems before they start

Spring is just around the corner, and this is historically the time of year where we get more calls about disease pressure and problems in the crop. This year, we’ve decided to run a series of blog posts about water sanitation to get you reflecting on your own irrigation system before you are faced with a problem. Posts over the next few weeks will focus on identifying problems in the greenhouse, interpreting lab test results, on-farm methods for disease monitoring, water treatment technology options and more. These will be good refresher resources, so make sure to bookmark them for future reference.

Ever wonder how water related disease issues just seem to pop up out of nowhere? You’ve never had a problem before, but suddenly things just aren’t looking right. The truth is that problems often go unnoticed while pathogen levels are low. Knowing potential innoculum sources and practicing good preventative measures can help to reduce the risk of a bigger problem. Continue reading “Water Sanitation Series Part 1: Identifying potential problems before they start” →

Online Training -Greenhouse Basics & Nutrient Management

Just in time for spring, the University of Florida has released their list of upcoming greenhouse themed online courses for the summer of 2019.

There are three courses available through the summer: Greenhouse 101, Nutrient Management 1 and Nutrient Management 2. All three courses are offered in both English and Spanish. Continue reading “Online Training -Greenhouse Basics & Nutrient Management” →

Workshop on Water Quality Testing next week!

YM7 — 3M Petri Films are an easy to use tool in on-farm water quality testing.

Want to know when and where pathogen problems are building BEFORE they start? Interested in setting up your own water quality testing program that’s both easy and cost effective?

For those of you attending my IPM Workshop on Friday, you’ll get a bit of a taste of the tools to help you do this that have recently been developed by Flowers Canada, the Soil Research Group and other collaborators.

For those of you who are missing my workshop, or want more hands-on, in-depth information on this topic, then come to the “Greenhouse Water Quality Workshop” being run on Feb. 24. Read on for more details.

Continue reading “Workshop on Water Quality Testing next week!” →