Institut für Pflanzenschutz in Obst- und Weinbau
In recent years, strawberries are increasingly grown in foil tunnels in substrate. To save water, excess water is collected during irrigation and returned to the irrigation system. To avoid contamination of the irrigation system with Phytophtora zoospores from sporadically infested crops, the water is disinfected before recirculation. UV light is used as standard for this purpose. Theoretically, better disinfection should be possible by adding H2O2. However, there are no methods available to test the effectiveness of the disinfection method or the contamination of water samples in general with strawberry-typical Phytophtora zoospores. Such a method should be developed.
Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture
