Hand watering is a common practice in many production and retail nurseries, with 55% of production nurseries using this method to some degree. Sometimes hand watering is regarded as an efficient irrigation method without full knowledge of the underlying principals and actual efficiencies of alternative methods. During 2008, DPI&F, Qld conducted an investigation into the efficiency of nursery irrigation practices on behalf of NGIA. This investigation surveyed a number of production and retail nurseries to examine labour costs and water use associated with hand watering, and compared it to the calculated costs of other irrigation techniques.
