The Nursery and Garden Industry supply plants to a wide range of sectors ranging from: garden centres, landscaping, commercial horticulture, forestry, revegetation and the interior/indoor trade. Traditionally, the requirement for including a plant label with the plant/pot being sold varied according to the end user and their knowledge of the plant and individual needs.

Many production nurseries fail to regularly review hygiene standards and as a result underlying and insidious problems are not obvious until it is too late. Hygiene problems in propagation can easily affect plants for their entire life. Preventing the spread of plant pathogens results in fewer pest and/or disease problems and a reduced need for using pesticides.

Just like many businesses in Australia, the nursery and garden industry has to deal with uncertain times. You only need to open a newspaper to read of rising interest rates and a global credit crunch, not to mention water shortages, global warming and carbon emissions. It can all get pretty gloomy, very quickly. Fortunately, our industry has schemes in place that can not only fortify your business but also help position you as an expert in your community when it comes to dealing with issues such as water conservation, resource management and biosecurity. This Nursery Paper will look at three production nurseries who have gained NIASA
Accreditation and the positive impact that applying NIASA Best Management Practice has had on their business.

What advantages are there in becoming a Nursery Industry Accreditation Scheme of Australia (NIASA) accredited nursery?
NIASA has been developed to improve nursery production by using a number of practical methods. The main advantages of accreditation come in systemisation, record keeping, improvement in profitability, regular visits by technical officers, and having a framework to guide regular improvements to the business.

The beneficial interactions between fungi and plants roots are called mycorrhizal associations. In the soil in the ground or in growing media in containers, mycorrhizal fungi link the plant’s roots to the soil/
growing media and facilitate the movement of nutrients into the plant’s roots.

Frost damage to nursery crops across Australia is a continuing issue with recent frosting events occurring in previously believed ‘frost free’ areas. In 2007 coastal areas of southern Queensland experienced severe frosts, some less than 500m from the ocean, which resulted in tens of thousands of dollars worth of damage. In this Nursery Paper Queensland Industry Development Manager John McDonald explains
how to anticipate a frosting event and mitigate the damage to your crop.

If you thought all disinfectants were the same and worked instantly, you had better read this! This paper details the advantages and limitations of some commonly used disinfectants on various
surfaces such as cement sheet/concrete, gravel, capillary mat, and sand beds. The rough and porous surfaces used for paths and placement of pots, such as concrete, gravel, capillary mats and sand beds
require different disinfectants and treatment times for fungi, bacteria and nematodes. However none of the tested treatments were effective on the highly resistant spores of Chalara elegans, which could
not be eliminated from gravel and cement sheet and was only partially controlled on capillary mat. Further research is required to develop effective means of controlling Chalara elegans contamination
of nursery surfaces.

Many production nurseries fail to regularly review hygiene standards and as a result underlying and insidious problems are not obvious until it is too late. Hygiene problems in propagation can easily affect plants for their entire life. Preventing the spread of plant pathogens results in fewer pest and/or disease problems and a reduced need for using pesticides.

General nursery hygiene procedures in the past have been based on information derived from scattered sources and were generally not tested on the range of pests and diseases relevant for the
Australian nursery industry. A research project commissioned by NIAA and HRDC has defined the disinfection methods that will ensure clean working surfaces in the nursery. These procedures will
also be used for NIASA accreditation.

When setting up a growing area, the way the beds are constructed has a great bearing on the efficiency of use and the longevity of the beds. The aim in building a good nursery growing area is to create a stable surface that disposes of drainage water as quickly as possible. This minimises water pooling and allows for efficient collection of water for recycling or reuse.

‘Greenlife Markets’, commonly referred to as wholesale plant markets, are trade-only businesses that supply greenlife and allied products to the landscape, horticultural, local government, retail
nursery and development sectors. Greenlife and allied products are sourced from a variety of businesses across Australia including NIASA accredited production nurseries and growing media
suppliers.

Tropical Exotics nursery is located at Ningi north of Brisbane and is owned by Gil & Teena Hebrard. The nursery produces a range of container plants designed for interior use, and are sold and marketed through retailers, wholesalers and plant hire companies along the east coast of Australia. Fifty percent of the Tropical Exotics container plant sales are to interstate customers.

Fertigation is the application of dissolved fertilisers to nursery crops through an irrigation system. This process provides the opportunity to: manage nutrient availability throughout the production cycle, supplement fertiliser supplied in the growing media, manipulate plant growth, alter the fertiliser program during the growing season, correct any nutrient deficiencies.

Fertigation is the application of dissolved fertilisers to nursery crops through an irrigation system. This process provides the opportunity to:
? manage nutrient availability throughout the production cycle,
? supplement fertiliser supplied in the growing media,
? manipulate plant growth,
? alter the fertiliser program during the growing season,
? correct any nutrient deficiencies.

Some great presentations were again on offer at the NGIQ Technical Field Day at DPI&F Redlands Research Station last month. Water and irrigation again featured heavily in the program during the day. Mal Hunter, known for the development of his innovative container design, discussed the various forms of capillary matting available for use in nursery irrigation, along with their benefits, uses and shortcomings. Mal also presented findings from his current project.

EcoHort™ is the Environmental Management System for Production Nurseries and Growing Media Manufactures within the Australian Nursery Industry. The eighteen participants of the July EcoHort™ workshop held at Kallangur received a wealth of information to enable those operators to implement the EcoHort™ program in their business operations. The participants who attended the one day workshop will receive on farm visits over the coming weeks to provide further assistance with their natural resource management and environmental issues.