IBC totes for nurseries and groves

What a grower does with a tote

A tote holds water at the edge of a block, feeds a drip line, doses a mixing tank or catches rain. The size is convenient: a 275 gallon tote on a stand serves a small block, and a 330 gallon one adds a fifth more water on the same pad. The drip irrigation guide does the pressure sums.

History decides the use. A tote that touched a pesticide or a cleaner is not a water tank for a crop, however well rinsed. A grower should buy by food-grade history or by a rebottled new bottle, and read the water totes page for the rules of thumb.

Sun, algae and a firm pad

• Cover the tote; clear plastic grows algae in sunlight. See desert sun and UV.
• Level the pad; a full tote weighs over a ton.
• Fit a filter ahead of the emitters.
• Use a hose adapter that matches the valve; see fittings.

Where it applies

Temecula, Riverside and Redlands all have groves and nurseries. The pages for Temecula Valley, Riverside and Redlands say how each differs.

A nursery layout

A container nursery typically has rows of potted stock under overhead sprinklers or drip lines, fed from a pump and a tank. A tote on a stand at the head of a row is a flexible tank: it can be refilled by hose, topped up by rain or moved with a forklift.

The risk is fertilizer. If a tote is used for injected nutrients it must not later feed a clean water line. Mark totes by job with paint or tags and never swap them. That single habit prevents most crop damage from cross-contamination.

Mixing and injecting

Nursery stock grows on nutrients. If you inject fertilizer from a tote, label it for that and no other use. Rinse lines before and after, and keep the injector away from drinking-water lines.

Questions people ask