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Estimating Plant Material Requirements

Estimating Plant Material Requirements. Commercial Plant Production. Every time plants move through the production steps at a nursery losses are incurred. For example: Not every cutting stuck in propagation will root.

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Estimating Plant Material Requirements

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  1. Estimating Plant Material Requirements Commercial Plant Production

  2. Every time plants move through the production steps at a nursery losses are incurred.

  3. For example: • Not every cutting stuck in propagation will root. • When rooted cuttings are removed from propagation and transplanted to small plant culture a small percentage of them will not survive. • When plants are transplanted from small plant culture to their final field spacing a small percentage of them will not survive.

  4. If your marketing plan says you need 5,000 units of a particular plant variety how many cuttings should you stick in Propagation? • 5,100? • 6,000? • 10,000?

  5. It’s important for nurseries to keep accurate propagation and transplanting records. • A simple formula can allow you to calculate plant requirements; Required Quantity = Target Quantity ( 1 – estimated % loss)

  6. For example: A nursery knows from it’s records that about 10% of the Spiraea ‘Goldflame’ it sticks as softwood cuttings will not root. The nursery has a target of 5,000 rooted cuttings. How many cuttings should they stick?

  7. Target Quantity = 5,000 Estimated % loss = 10% = .1 Using the formula: Required Quantity = 5,000 (1 - .1) Required Quantity = 5,000 = 5,556 ( .9 ) Check: 5,556 – 10% = 5,000

  8. An Example Showing Multiple Losses at Various Steps in Production

  9. Estimating Propagation Requirements

  10. Cuttings in a propagation greenhouse are stuck at close spacings. • Some common spacings are: • 2 x 2 inches • 2 x 3 inches • 3 x 3 inches • 3 x 4 inches • etc…

  11. If a cutting is stuck at a 2 x 2 inch spacing, then that cutting consumes 4 square inches of “space”. • 5,000 cuttings stuck at a 2 x 2 inch spacing would consume 20,000 square inches of space. • Since one square foot = 144 square inches, 20,000 square inches equals about 139 square feet.

  12. A nursery has 10,000 square feet of propagation space in their greenhouse. How many cuttings, stuck at a 2 x 3 inch spacing, will the propagator be able to fit into the propagation greenhouse? • Each cutting consumes 2 x 3 = 6 square inches of space. • 10,000 square feet x 144 square inches/sq ft = 1,440,000 square inches of propagation space. • 1,440,000 sq inches/ 6 sq inches = 240,000

  13. The End

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