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Plug and Cutting Production

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Plug and Cutting Production

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    1. 1 Plug and Cutting Production Plant Health and Nutrition Department Alan Miller BFG Supply Company Fall 2000 Sales Meeting

    2. 2 Seed and Cutting Production Structures Equipment Media Containers Seedlings Fertilizers Fungicides Insecticides

    3. 3 Structures New Greenhouse Retrofit Existing Area Covering

    4. 4 New Greenhouse Location Size Water Quality Orientation to sun Headhouse location Electric power Slope, drainage, zoning 10% of growing area Adequate or filtration North of growing area Access and flow Heat, fans, lighting machinery, expansion

    5. 5 Covering Glass Acrylic (Plexiglass, Exolite) Polycarbonate (Lexan, Polygal) Fiberglass Polyethylene Excellent light transmission, high cost, life 25 years Excellent light transmission, double wall, easily scratched, expands, brittle, high cost, life 20 years. High impact, available in double wall, low flammability, scratches easily, high expansion, life 10-15 years Low cost, strong, easy to work with, yellows, pollution degradation, life 7-12 years. Inexpensive, readily available, easy to install, short life

    6. 6 Equipment Benches Heating Forced air, bottom heat, Biotherm. Cooling Vents, rollups, pad & fan, fog Shading White wash, screen fabric

    7. 7 Equipment Lighting Natural, HID Irrigation Overhead mist, water boom, ebb & flood Control Systems Temp., relative humidity, light intensity, watering, fertilizing, alarms

    8. 8 Equipment Flat filler Seeders Transplanters Water tunnels Conveyers

    9. 9 Media Good water holding capacity, with air porosity above 2%. Media affects WHC and AP. Compression by stacking or other reduces AP. Adding water to media before filling will improve AP-WHC ratio. pH determines nutrient availability. Start with pH between 5.5-5.8. Geraniums, impatiens, marigolds, start at 6.0-6.2. High pH results in micronutrient deficiencies and excess calcium, while low pH causes micros to be excessive and macros become deficient.

    10. 10 Media Know your soluble salts. Begin at .75 mmhos/cm. If your media has no starter charge begin feeding immediately with 50-75 ppm of low NH4 fertilizer. Test your plug mix. Track for pH drops and soluble salts. Use good a lab, or buy a good meter. Use only good quality plug mix. Your crop is dependent on consistent high quality mix, yet the cost of plug mix is less than 10% of total plug cost.

    11. 11 Media 1:2 or 1:5 - Air dry media, use 1/4 cup packed firmly, use distilled H2O, mix, let stand for 30 minutes, filter. SME - Use 1 pt of media, bring to saturation level (glistens, no free water), let stand 30 minutes, filter Pour through - Media near saturation, for 6” apply 3 oz., collect leachate. SME 1:2 or 1:5 Extract Slurry Extract Slurry Pour through pH 5.5-6.0 5.4-6.2 5.5-6.5 5.4-6.2 55.-6.5 Extract(SME) 1:2 Dilution 1:5 Dilution Pour through EC Established 2.0-3.0 0.8-1.2 0.3-0.6 3.0-5.0 Plugs 1.0-2.0 0.5-0.9

    12. 12 Acceptable Nutrient levels pH Soluble salts or EC (mmhos) Nitrates (N03) Ammonium (NH4) Phosphorus (P) Potassium (K) Calcium (Ca) Magnesium (Mg) Sulfur (5) Sodium (Na) Chloride (Cl) Boron (B) Iron (Fe) Manganese (Mn) Zinc (Zn) Copper (Cu) Molybdenum (Mo) ppm mg/I Note: Values based on the saturated media extract (SME) procedure. 5.5-5.8 for most crops 6.0-6.2 for low pH-sensitive crop 0.4-1.0, depending on crop 40-60 ppm <10 ppm 5-8ppm 50-100 ppm 60-120 ppm 30-60 ppm 50-200 ppm <30 ppm <40 ppm 0.2-0.5 ppm 0.06-6 ppm 0.03-3 ppm 0.001-0.6 ppm 0.001-0.6 ppm 0.02-0.15 ppm

    13. 13 Containers Container size affects WHC. The taller the container the better the drainage and the higher the AP. A short container drains slower and has less AP. Hexagonal & octagonal plug cells have large surface areas, which improves root growth and less chance of over-watering.

    14. 14 Seedlings Refined- cleaned and tested for vigor. Detailed, defuzzed- seeds pick up better Primed- controlled hydration of seeds that permits pregerminative metabolic activity, but prevents radicle emergence. Pelleted, coated-increases size and uniformity of small seeds. Pregerminated- same as primed but allows radicle emergence.

    15. 15 Fertilizers High pH and alkalinity can be controlled with fertilizer. Controlling plug growth relies on low fertility. (50-100 ppm) Ca and Mg are beneficial, but tend to raise pH. Keep HH4 and P low to avoid stretch. Use acid to neutralize high pH and Alkalinity.

    16. 16 Acid Injection calculation

    17. 17 Growth Regulators

    18. 18 Diseases Most diseases are caused by over watering, poor air movement, high humidity, poor sanitation, and poor weed control. Usually plants show stress symptoms. The biggest disease problem in plugs and cuttings are root and crown roots, along with damping off (pythium, rhizoctonia, and Thielaviopsis). Always check and follow label instructions, then test spray. Any phytoxicity should show up in 2-3 days. Drenches need to get all the way through the soil volume to be effective. Never apply to moisture stressed plants.

    19. 19 Diseases Pythium: can be caused by cool temps., over-watering and poor drainage, or high salts. Brown rotted roots usually starts at bottom of pot. Rhizoctonia: Alternating extremes of wetting & drying, high temps., wounds at crown, high salts. Typically results in dry stringy rot on stem. Thielaviopsis: High pH, Temps out of range, high ammonium. Also called black root rot. Definite blackened areas throughout roots.

    20. 20 Diseases

    21. 21 Diseases

    22. 22 Insects The most common insect problems in plugs are fungus gnats and shore flies. Always check and follow label instructions, then test spray. Any phytoxicity should show up in 2-3 days. Your water pH should be between 5.5-6.5 for best efficacy. Use acid or fertilizer to lower tank pH. Do not apply to moisture stressed plants. Foliage should be dry. Use proper spraying method. High volume needs to cover whole plant. Low volume Needs air movement. Avoid mixes with high organic content. Eliminate areas of standing water, algae on benches & floors.

    23. 23 Insects Fungus gnats: Usually seen running on media or flying around plants. Adults are usually dusky gray flies with long antennae, mosquito or midgelike, about 1/4 “ in shape. In soil eggs hatch into white, translucent larvae with shiny black heads. Usually found in top inch of soil. Shore Flies: Adults are semiaquatic, larvae are totally aquatic. Both feed on algae. Adults are nearly all black, and reddish eyes, white spots on wings, short antennae. Resemble leafminer or fruit flies. Larvae are maggotlike and light tan, they have two breathing tubes at rear.

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