Growing Shrub Liners on Flood Floors

A flood floor is an ebb and flood system that utilizes the concrete floor of a greenhouse as the water basin for subirrigating a crop. Plants are grown directly on the floor. All water is recycled and stored in large water storage tanks. The growing area is flooded with 1–2 inches of water, which is absorbed from the bottom of a container through capillary action into the growing medium. Generally flood floors are divided into sections or irrigation zones, which can be flooded separately. This technology is often utilized in monoculture production settings with container-grown crops. More recently it has been used in production of bedding flats, liners, and even plugs. We have found that there are several advantages in using flood floor technology to grow shrub liners: consistency of water delivery, crop uniformity, reduced foliar diseases, reduction in water and fertilizer requirements, reduced labor, and zero water run-off.

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Author(s): D. Joeright

Section: Container Production