Outdoor & Protected Cultivation
Wildfire Smoke, Dust & Surface Contamination
Outdoor foliage and flowers can collect ash, dust, soil particles, spray drift, and other airborne material. Visible residue should be documented as exposure evidence rather than assumed to be a disease or nutrient symptom.
Key concepts
- Particle deposition depends on source, wind, canopy position, and surface characteristics
- Residues can interfere with visual pest and disease inspection
- Flowers are difficult to clean without potentially changing quality or adding moisture
- Exposure history matters for deciding whether testing or rejection is appropriate
What to measure or observe
- Document air-quality or dust events and wind direction
- Compare protected and exposed plant surfaces
- Use magnification to distinguish particles from fungal structures
- Keep affected lots identifiable through harvest
Common mistakes
- Calling all pale surface material powdery mildew
- Spraying water onto dense flowers without considering wetness risk
- Mixing heavily exposed material into unaffected lots
- Ignoring neighboring soil or road dust sources
Visuals this lesson still needs
- Dust-versus-fungal-growth microscopy comparison
- Particle deposition canopy map
- Exposure record workflow
- Lot-separation diagram