Greenhouse IPM principles, plant quarantine, scouting, monitoring, sanitation, media, and integrated pest-management practices.
Foundations
Sanitation and Quarantine
Exclusion and workflow design are often more reliable than trying to eradicate a problem after it spreads. Quarantine, clean-to-dirty movement, and validated tool sanitation reduce transmission opportunities.
What to look for
- Shared tools moving between plant groups
- Uncontrolled incoming clones or plants
- Plant debris, standing water, algae, and hard-to-clean surfaces
- People or equipment moving from affected areas into clean areas
Important look-alikes
- A visually clean surface is not necessarily sanitized
- A symptom-free incoming plant is not necessarily pest- or pathogen-free
How to confirm
- Audit movement pathways
- Verify sanitation products and contact procedures are appropriate for the target
- Use testing or extended observation for high-risk incoming stock
Management principles
- Move from clean areas toward suspect or affected areas when possible
- Dedicate tools or sanitize between plant groups
- Remove waste without carrying it through clean production zones
Prevention
- Create a defined quarantine area
- Document incoming material
- Standardize cleaning protocols
- Train everyone who handles plants on movement boundaries
Visual study guide
- Clean-to-dirty workflow map
- Quarantine decision tree
- Tool sanitation sequence
- Contamination pathway diagram
Evidence & further reading
Sources connected to this lesson
These references support specific biological, diagnostic, environmental, or process concepts used in this lesson. They are not a substitute for crop-specific testing or local regulatory guidance.Controlled access, crop scouting, movement controls, sanitation, pest introduction pathways, and greenhouse biosecurity practices.