Introduction:

A forest nursery must be provided with abundant water of good quality water. The water with low quality may contain salts, toxic ions, pollutants or diseases. However, in Mexico the quality of water in forest nurseries has received little attention in research. Because of that in this work is performed a diagnosis of the water quality in forest nurseries of Mexico.

Method:

In 148 containerized forest nurseries ubicated in Mexico, 1 L irrigation water samples were obteined. Such samples were analyzed in the Central laboratory of the Universidad Autónoma Chapingo. From the samples were determined the parameters pH, electric conductivity, concentration of bicarbonates, Ca, B, Mg, sulfates, Na and Cl. With the obtained data was calculated the total hardiness and the adjusted sodium adsorption ratio (this last for nurseries that produce the trees in plastic bags).

Results:

The parameters that exceded the established limits were: pH (84%, 125 forest nurseries), electric conductivity (34%, 50 forest nurseries), and bicarbonate concentration (77%, 114 nurseries); for the rest of measured parameters, only a small percentage excedes the limit values. From all of the forest nurseries, six that produce in containers and two that produce in plastic bags, fulfill the parameters of quality of water. The rest of nurseries have at least one parameter out of the established limits.

Conclusion:

Most of the forest nurseries in the temperate region have water with high pH and bicarbonates, while high proportion of those in tropical regions have water with high electric conductivity. It is convenient to choose a good location for the establishment of forest nurseries, in order of having availability of a source of good quality water.