Containerized crop production faces increasing sustainability challenges with both soilless substrate and water use. To facilitate use of sustainable practices, we evaluated plant health impacts of two substrates, bark and wood fiber, which we contrasted with peat, a substrate that is slower to renew; this was overlaid with an analysis of the effects of water-saving-targeted irrigation reductions, compared with typical well-watered conditions. Health impacts were evaluated in two crops, considering both physiological and disease impacts for tomato with and without Phytophthora capsici, and chrysanthemum with and without Phytopythium helicoides. Substrate type was a strong determinant of plant health, wherein crops grown in a HydraFiber-peat mix (“fiber”) performed worse than those in bark and peat, with up to a 50% and 45% reduction in shoot biomass in tomato and chrysanthemum, respectively (P < 0.001). Tomato decline incidence from P. capsici was 3-6 times higher in fiber than other substrates, and fiber was the only substrate where the effect of P. capsici enhanced decline and rot development compared with noninoculated plants (P < 0.05). In bark, reduced irrigation consistently inhibited tomato and chrysanthemum growth and shoot water content (typically P < 0.001). In peat, whereas tomato growth was inhibited under reduced irrigation (P 5 0.012-0.013), chrysanthemum growth was often unaffected. Growth in fiber was uniformly poor regardless of irrigation regime for both crops, and an irrigation treatment effect was not typically apparent. Reduced irrigation enhanced pathogen effects in fiber and peat for tomato and fiber and bark for chrysanthemum (P < 0.05). This is perhaps the first study to evaluate HydraFiber interactions with disease and reduced irrigation and suggests that this product consistently incurs costs to crop productivity. However, the peat-replacing bark substrate has strong potential to optimize plant growth physiologically and via disease suppression and can be used under reduced irrigation without compromising economic productivity of the system.

While governments and individuals strive to maintain the availability of high-quality water resources, many factors can "change the landscape" of water availability and quality, including drought, climate change, saltwater intrusion, aquifer depletion, population increases, and policy changes. Specialty crop producers, including nursery and greenhouse container operations, rely heavily on available high-quality water from surface and groundwater sources for crop production. Ideally, these growers should focus on increasing water application efficiency through proper construction and maintenance of irrigation systems, and timing of irrigation to minimize water and sediment runoff, which serve as the transport mechanism for agrichemical inputs and pathogens. Rainfall and irrigation runoff from specialty crop operations can contribute to impairment of groundwater and surface water resources both on-farm and into the surrounding environment. This review focuses on multiple facets of water use, reuse, and runoff in nursery and greenhouse production including current and future regulations, typical water contaminants in production runoff and available remediation technologies, and minimizing water loss and runoff (both on-site and off-site). Water filtration and treatment for the removal of sediment, pathogens, and agrichemicals are discussed, highlighting not only existing understanding but also knowledge gaps. Container-grown crop producers can either adopt research-based best management practices proactively to minimize the economic and environmental risk of limited access to high-quality water, be required to change by external factors such as regulations and fines, or adapt production practices over time as a result of changing climate conditions.