Pune: Garden nurseries in the city, many of which operate under a dual poly-house and open-farm setup, are facing about 20% spoilage this monsoon amid intense rain spells . Stagnant water and flooding have caused issues such as root rot, yellowing of leaves, de-foliage and damage to seasonal flowering plants at nurseries. “This time, the rain is more intense than usual.
Some 10% to 20% of my plants are damaged due to the heavy rain. The most affected are seasonal varieties such as Ixora, Murraya Dwarf and Bougainvillea,” said Amol Jagtap, the owner of B2B nursery Venkateshwara Nursery. Some business owners have moved their plants into poly-houses, which are types of greenhouses made of glass or polytheene sheets.
Plants can be grown in poly-houses under controlled climatic conditions. Other nurseries, meanwhile, have created better drainage in their farms to ensure the rainwater gets an outlet. Pritam More, who runs More Gardens on Pune-Solapur Road, admitted that plant growth and quality improves with rainwater, but it also leads to issues such as root rot.
“We are also facing an issue of over-stocking at present because builders who had ordered plants in bulk for plantation in their new constructions have paused deliveries as fresh plantation is not possible due to heavy rain,” he said. Many of the plants have either grown too much or have been damaged, he added. Smaller retail nurseries have cut down on purchases during the monsoon as it becomes difficult to manage.