Nursery is a place where plants are grown, nurtured and sold out. Nursery plans require due care and attention after having either emerged from the seeds. Generally they are grown in the open field where, they face the local environment.” The duty & main objective of a commercial nursery grower to supply the nursery plants with suitable conditions necessary for their development & growth. This is the major work of management in the nursery which includes all such operations right from the emergence of young plant-lets till they are fully grown-up or are ready for uprooting & transplanting in the main fields.
Ornamental plants have very high demand these days in landscaping home gardens, hotels, commercial buildings and public places. New plant varieties such as plants with variegated leaves and flowers and modified plants with more flowers and new colors, have highest demand in the today’s market.
The nursery of Lakmal Gardens have a vast collection of ornamental plants, which are highly demanded by the customers. The core purpose of the nursery is to provide high quality planting materials to be used in landscaping projects of the company. Main functions done by the nursery are maintenance of ornamental plants, propagation and preparation of planting mixtures to be used in landscaping projects of the company.
Plant propagation in a plants nursery
Plant propagation is the process of creating new plants from a variety of sources like seeds, cuttings, bulbs and other plant parts. It is mainly two types as sexual propagation and asexual propagation. Mostly asexual propagation is practiced by the company, while sexual propagation is limited for the palm varieties.
Asexual propagation
Mainly two types of asexual propagation methods are practiced by the company, which are cuttings and layering.
Cuttings
A plant cutting is a piece of a plant that is used in horticulture for vegetam To-sexual propagation. A piece of the stem or root of the mother plant is placed in a Jo medium and if the conditions are suitable, the plant piece will begin to grow plant. A stem cutting produces new roots and a root cutting produces new stem. However plants can be grown from leaf pieces, called leaf cuttings, which produce stems and roots (Anon, 2017).
Most ornamental plants are propagated by stem cuttings as it is a quick, easy and reliable method of propagating. Some of the ornamental plants that are propagated by stem cuttings are
Cuttings Continued……
Generally the cuttings of 10-15 cm in length, which includes 3-4 buds are made with a straight cut on top and a slant cut on the bottom. Straight cut on top of the cutting minimizes transpiration and the slant cut at the bottom increases nutrient uptake and surface area for rooting. These cuttings should be made using a sharp disinfected knife to minimize the wounding and infections. After the cuttings are prepared, rooting hormones should be applied in the lower surface of the cutting using a clean brush.
However, Then they are planted in a well irrigated basin type propagator which consists sand and half burnt paddy husk in 1:1 ratio. After that the propagator is covered with a polythene, tied well using a rope to prevent evaporation of water and date of the propagation is marked on the polythene. After 21 days the propagator is opened and healthy rooted cuttings are transplanted in pots and reared under net houses.
Adenium obesum and Zamioculcas zamifolia have a bit different methods of propagating cuttings. Adenium obesum soft wood cuttings of about 6 inches are made with the upper end straight and lower end slanted. Then they are kept under sunlight for few hours to dry out the latex before applying rooting hormones. The potting mixture should consist half burnt paddy husk, sand and chip stones in 1:1:1 ratio.
There are Two types of Cuttings done in a nursery
Two types of cuttings can be used in propagating Zamioculcas zamisolia, which stem cuttings and leaf cuttings. Stem cuttings and leaf cutting. Stem cutting should consist two leaves with a straight upper cut and a slanted lower cut. This method results quicker root and rhizome formation. But mostly used commercial propagation method of Zamioculcas zamijona is leaf cuttings, however it results higher number of daughter plants. Leaf cuttings should be inserted to the potting media with a 45 degree angle for better rooting. Potting media for Zamioculcas zamifolia should consist sand and coir dust, 2:1 ratio and the cuttings should be reared in a net house where direct sunlight is obtained.
There are Two types of Cuttings done in a nursery
Two types of cuttings can be used in propagating Zamioculcas zamisolia, which stem cuttings and leaf cuttings. Stem cuttings and leaf cutting. Stem cutting should consist two leaves with a straight upper cut and a slanted lower cut. This method results quicker root and rhizome formation. But mostly used commercial propagation method of Zamioculcas zamijona is leaf cuttings, however it results higher number of daughter plants. Leaf cuttings should be inserted to the potting media with a 45 degree angle for better rooting. Potting media for Zamioculcas zamifolia should consist sand and coir dust, 2:1 ratio and the cuttings should be reared in a net house where direct sunlight is obtained.
Comments