Identifying Opportunities to Promote Water Treatment Practices among Nursery and Greenhouse Growers

• Main Authors: Alexa J. Lamm, Laura A. Warner, Peyton Beattie, Abraham Tidwell, Paul R. Fisher, Sarah A. White
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: American Society for Horticultural Science (ASHS) 2019-09-01
• Series: HortTechnology
• Subjects: audience analysis; best management practices; irrigation; technology adoption
• Online Access: https://journals.ashs.org/horttech/view/journals/horttech/29/6/article-p687.xml

There are many water treatment technologies available to the nursery and greenhouse industry, but this sector has been somewhat hesitant to adopt them. An online survey was used to evaluate nursery and greenhouse growers’ knowledge, implementation, and continued use of 12 water treatment technologies. Less than 24% of the growers had used a water treatment technology. The knowledge level was low overall, and fewer than one in four growers had implemented all 12 technologies. However, most growers who had implemented 10 of the 12 technologies continued to use them. The results imply water treatment technologies available for this group are somewhat unknown and underused, thereby implying that there is a need to increase awareness of these innovations and highlight the opportunity for growers to advocate for treatment technology use among their peers.