Handling Nursery Stock

1
Handling Nursery Stock

• HORT 411 Nursery Crops

2
Overview

• Harvesting
• Overwintering
• Storage
• Planting

3
Lifting

• Ensure that seedlings
• are not moisture
• stressed
• Minimize fine root
• loss
• Minimize desiccation
• following lift

4
Harvesting methods

• Balled stock
• Can be dug at various times throughout the year
• Dug
• with mechanical diggers
• by hand
• Multiple options for balling
• Balled and burlapped
• Balled and potted
• Balled and bagged
• Root ball must be proper size
• ANLA Standards

5
Harvesting methods

• Balled stock
• Diggng trees

Source 2004 Caretree Systems
6
Harvesting methods

• Balled stock
• Digging trees

Holmac HZC 16-22 plant digger
Source 2001 Plant Oregon
7
Harvesting methods

• Bare-root
• Dug when top growth slows (dormant)
• Harvested with U-blade
• Field processing
• Trimmed, graded, bundled
• Storage processing
• Bundled in field
• Trimming, grading, labeling, packaging done in
  storage
• Allows for using labor when field conditions
  prevent outdoor work

8
Harvesting methods

• Bare-root
• Dormancy
• Occurs only in shoots
• ABA accumulates in buds
• 3 stages
• Pre-dormancy
• Reversible bud will grow if conditions turn
  favorible.
• True-dormancy
• Irreversible bud cannot grow until chilling
  requirement has been met.
• Post-dormancy
• Bud is capable of growing (has met chilling
  requirement).

9
Dormancy

• Factors
• Daylength
• Main environmental variable
• Temperature
• Required for true-dormancy?
• Nutrition
• High N late in season can delay
• Water
• Water stress can induce early dormancy

10
Dormancy

• Ecotypes (provenance)
• Northern ecotypes
• require long days for growth
• might set bud earlier in the growing season
• reduced growth
• Southern ecotypes
• fail to set bud in fall
• cold injury

11
Grading and packaging

• Specific standards
• Height
• Diameter
• Packaging
• According to
• storage type
• Maintain
• moisture
• content

12
Harvesting methods

• Bare-root
• Storage
• Spread workload
• Prepare material for shipping in winter
• Material is ready for shipping during busy spring
  months
• Do not have to dig in spring
• Extends shipping period

13
Lifting, grading, and storing bare root

• Packaging
• Depends on size, species,
• location, cost, etc
• Bags
• Boxes
• Wrap
• Combination
• Prevent moisture loss
• In cooler/freezer
• At site before planting

14
Bare root storage

• Holding dormant plants
• Dormancy is environment-dependent
• Moisture loss is 1 concern
• Roots must be kept moist, but not wet
• Pest and disease problems may increase
• Cooler storage
• Short term
• Freezer storage
• Long term

15
Bare root herbaceous perennials

• Dug as bare-root in late fall - winter
• Crowns and roots
• Timing is critical
• Water can be an issue
• molds fungus
• Processing
• Should be quick (respiration)
• Green tissue removed
• Division
• Wound healing (15-18 ?C or 60-65 ?F and

16
Bare root herbaceous perennials

• Often dug early before fully mature
• Workforce availability
• Fear of bad weather
• Potential problems if dug before fully mature
• Incomplete carbohydrate accumulation
• Insufficient suberization of roots and crowns
• Lack of overwintering buds
• Susceptibility to molds and rots

17
Bare root herbaceous perennials

• Stored at -2 ?C (28 ?F)
• Packaging
• 1-3 ml polyethylene
• Allows enough O2 movement for respiration at ?C
• Over-packaging can lead to fermentation
• Dry fillers
• Wood fibers
• Shredded paper
• Reduce condensation on plants
• Aid air movement
• Can be shipped at any time during winter

18
Overwintering

• Typical winter problems
• Desiccation
• evergreens
• Shoot kill
• cold sensitive plants
• cold tolerant plants in extreme fall or spring
  situations
• Root kill

19
Overwintering
20
Overwintering

• Ensure maximum acclimation of stock before
  overwintering.
• Allow exposure to reduced daylength.
• Avoid excess or insufficient supply of nutrients.
• Carefully monitor water content.

21
Overwintering Root kill
Table 1. Average killing temperatures for roots
of selected species of woody ornamental plants.
Scientific Name
Common Name
Killing Temperature F
Magnolia soulangiana
Saucer Magnolia
23
Magnolia stellata
Star Magnolia
23
Cornus florida
Flowering Dogwood
20
Garland Flower
20
Daphne cneorum
Ilex opaca
American Holly
20
Common Boxwood
15
Buxus sempervirens
Pachysandra terminalis
Japanese pachysandra
15
Vinca minor
Common Periwinkle
15
Rhododendron Gibraltar
Gibraltar Azalea
10
Juniperus horizontalis
Creeping Juniper
0
Rhododendron P.J.M. hybrids
P.J.M. Rhododendron
-10
Potentilla fruticosa
Shrubby Cinquefoil
-10
Picea glauca
White Spruce
-10
Picea omorika
Serbian Spruce
-10
Highest temperature that killed more than 50 of
root system and reduced top growth.
SOURCE Havis, J.R. 1964. Root hardiness of woody
ornamentals. HortScience 11(4)385-386.
22
Overwintering

• Goal is to insulate containers and minimize
  temperature fluctuations.

• Substrate temperature of pot-in-pot grown maples.
• Zhu et. Al. 2004. Preliminary Investigation of
  Water and Nutrient Use, Substrate Temperature,
  and Moisture in Pot-in-Pot Production. Ornamental
  Plants Annual Reports and Research Reviews

23
Overwintering

• Approach to overwintering
• Group plants with similar tolerance.
• Decide on necessary level of protection.
• Protect plants from other potential damage.

24
Overwintering

• Considerations for covered stock
• All plants should be dormant.
• Heavily soak prior to covering.
• Do not cover wet plants.
• Apply a fungal spray prior to covering.
• Place rodent bait before covering.
• If laying over stock, all tops should point
  south.

25
Overwintering

• Levels of protection
• None
• Pot-to-pot w/mulch

Dr. James Altland, Oregon State Univ.

• Hoop house
• Hoop house microfoam
• Hoop house heater

Clemson Univ. Cooperative Extension Service
26
Overwintering

• Cold frames
• Microfoam tunnels
• Shade house
• Plastic houses
• Polyhouses
• Must not be too warm cold requirement

Polyhouses at Evergreen Nursery
27
Overwintering

• Polyhouses
• Temperature is proportional to intercepted
  sunlight.
• Daytime temps 20 to 30?F warmer than outside.
• Polyethylene does not hold heat well.
• Nighttime temps similar to outside.
• Clear plastic/straw/clear plastic has been shown
  to increase night temps and decrease temp
  fluctuations.

28
Overwintering

• Symptoms of (improper) overwintering damage
• Poor growth followed by wilting
• Bark splitting
• Root kill
• Collar injury

29
Overwintering

• When to cover the plants?
• Instinct
• F-date
• F30 or F45
• Days after predicted first frost date
• Lafayette first frost date Sept 28
• F-date would be Oct 28 or Nov 15

30
Overwintering

• Uncovering in spring
• F-date
• This time F-30 or F-45.
• Days before predicted last frost date
• Lafayette first frost date May 20
• F-date would be April 10 or March 25
• Covering late will accelerate spring growth.
• Must water, fertilize, etc.
• New growth is especially susceptible to frost.

31
Chilling requirements

• When overwintering, chilling requirements must
  also be met.
• Dormancy is broken after
• Given number of chilling units in winter
• Given number of heating units in spring
• Given photoperiod (in some cases)

32
Chilling requirements
33
Field storage

• Healing-in storage
• Simple
• Minimal input
• Temporary
• Plants on or in ground
• Covered by lightweight media
• Should be mulched in temps

Healing-in flowering pear at L.E. Cooke
34
Handling container stock

• Ready for sale when plant is appropriate size for
  container
• ANLA Standards
• Problems with handling container plants
• Root bound plants
• Winter freezing
• Blow over
• Solution is various pot-in-pot systems

35
Holding container stock

• Options for holding stock
• Reduce fertilizer and water
• Pot up and sell as a larger plant
• Prune and allow to re-grow
• Divide suckering or creeping plants

36
Planting

• Bare root
• Soak roots prior to planting
• Prune dead or broken roots
• Be aware of planting depth
• Balled plants
• Planting depth
• Container stock
• Cut root-bound
• All types
• Be aware of transplant shock

37
Planting

• Planting too deep
• Result of
• Not preparing planting hole properly
• Planting hole should not be deeper than the root
  ball
• Trunk covered by soil at nursery
• Symptoms
• Reduced growth rate
• Top die-back
• Branch death
• Yellow leaves
• Disease
• Identification
• Lack of a basal flare

38
Planting

• Transplant shock
• Result of
• Root loss
• Transportation
• Penetration of new soil
• Critical time period
• First few weeks-months after planting
• Transplant shock can occur for 1 year for every
  inch of caliper

39
Planting

• Transplant shock
• Symptoms
• Reduced growth
• Late leaf expansion
• Yellowing leaves
• Leaf drop
• Reduced flowering
• Early fall color
• Remedies
• Plant at the proper time
• Dont let roots dry out between nursery and site
• Be aware of microclimates
• Water in well after planting
• Reduce leaf area

40
Nursery Resources
41
Nursery organizations

• Indiana Nursery and Landscape Association (INLA)
• URL www.inla1.org
• Summer meeting
• Winter meeting
• trade fair in January (PLANTS 2005)
• Workshops on special topics
• Indiana Nursery News bimonthly publication
• Indiana Accredited Horticulturist program
• Networking with nursery and landscape
  professionals

42
Nursery organizations

• American Nursery and Landscape Association (ANLA)
• URL www.anla.org
• Lobby in Washington, DC
• issues important to the nursery and landscape
  industries
• Horticultural Research Institute (HRI)
• Journal of Environmental Horticulture
• Workshops on special topics
• Special studies and reports
• Annual national educational meeting and trade
  fair
• Problem solving resources

43
Nursery organizations

• International Plant Propagators Society (IPPS)
• URL www.ipps.org
• Annual educational meeting
• Regular newsletter
• Annual Journal IPPS with research reports and
  papers
• Networking with nursery propagators

44
Nursery organizations

• State/regional nursery organizations
• Southern nursery associaton
• URL www.sna.org
• Oregon association of nurseries
• URL www.oan.org
• Large trade shows!

45
Nursery trade shows - regional

• Indiana
• Indiana Green Expo
• 10 12 January 2007
• Convention Center, Indianapolis, IN
• Ohio
• CENTS Central Environmental Nursery Trade Show
• 21 24 January 2007
• Convention Center, Columbus, OH
• Illinois / Wisconsin
• Mid AM Trade Show
• 17 19 January 2007
• McCormick Place - Lakeside, Chicago, IL

46
Trade journals

• American Nurseryman
• URL www.amerinursery.com/index.html
• Subscription cost is 48/year for 24 issues
• Nursery Management and Production
• URL www.greenbeam.com/
• Subscription cost is free for 12 issues/year
• Native Plants Network/Journal
• URL nativeplants.for.uidaho.edu/
• Free online access!!!
• Forest Nursery Notes
• URL rngr.net/Publications/fnn
• Free online access

47
Other important resources

• Extension
• University extension
• Bulletins, newsletters, workshops
• County extension
• Field days, consulting
• 1998 National Census of Horticultural Specialties
• National Agricultural Statistics Service
• 286 pages of statistics on all aspects of the
  nursery production
• The internet
• Increasingly used as a business tool

48
Updates

• Projects
• Thank you letters and stamped envelopes
  (unsealed) to me on 28 Nov.
• Groups as listed.
• Send PowerPoint presentation by 10 am 28 Nov,
• OR
• Bring on a flash drive to HORT 210 before 1145
  28 Nov.

49
Group Project Nurseries

• 5 Dec
• Group 9 Brehob
• Brandon Snyder
• Evan McCarthy
• Tom Slanec
• Group 8 JFNew
• Amanda Rickman
• Kyle Peczkowski
• William Harriman
• Group 7 Woody Whouse
• Lyndsay Anderson
• Jess Ponsford
• Steve Meyers

• 28 Nov
• Group 1 Hobbs
• David Rescek
• Mike Weber
• Aaron Clark
• Group 2 Bluegrass
• Austin Arnold
• Shawn Tipton
• Travis Stumler
• Group 3 Per. Plus
• Brad Foist
• Chris Fred
• Dan Meuller

• 30 Nov
• Group 4 Price
• Amanda Molter
• Amanda Mitchell
• Jon Martin
• Group 5 LaPorte
• Jacquelin Drury
• Mark Watson
• Dana Wynkoop
• Group 6 Maschmeyers
• Jerrod Witte
• Adam Bossung
• Cindy Dunlevy
• Elaine Trueblood