Thomas D. 'Tom' Landis's Images
Title: Consultant and Nursery SpecialistOrganization: USDA Forest Service
Unit: J.H. Stone Nursery
Country: United States
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| 15 Images of 9 Subjects | View Subject List | View Image Details | View Thumbnails |
| Image | Subject Name | Scientific Name | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0010063 | nursery operations | Once thinning is complete, seedlings are brought into the Rapid Growth Phase, in which they are forced into accelerated growth rates by supplying all the factors that are normally limiting. The type of growing environment will determine the cultural options that are available and the resultant growth rate. Fully-controlled environments have heating, ventilation, photoperiodic lighting, irrigation, fertilization, and even supplemental carbon dioxide. | |
| 0010064 | nursery operations | Many nurseries use under-bench heating which stimulates seedling growth by warming the roots system. These systems also can be used to force ventilation up through the seedling foliage and significantly reduces incidence of foliar diseases, such as grey mold. The major drawback of underbench systems is that the tubes prohibit the use of forklifts in the greenhouse. | |
| 0010067 | fertigation | Most container tree nurseries fertilize through the irrigation system. Liquid fertilizer solutions are injected into the irrigation lines in the headhouse, and applied to the crop through the sprinkler nozzles. Supplying all 13 essential mineral nutrient is one of the most effective cultural techniques for controlling seedling growth, and nutrient injection systems are very effective because they supply the proper nutrient concentration at exactly the right time. | |
| 0010075 | transport | Some container tree nurseries ship their seedling directly to the outplanting site in the growth container. This technique is necessary where cold storage facilities are not available, but the seedlings must still be protected and maintained on the outplanting site. | |
| 0010011 | seeding or sowing | After the seedbeds are formed, the seed is sown. Some nurseries sow in the fall so that the seeds can undergo natural stratification. Spring sowing is more common, however, and begins as soon as soil temperatures are warm enough. Larger nurseries use seed drills which sow the seed in 6 to 8 rows per seedbed. Some seed drills automatically cover the seed with soil, whereas others leave the seed exposed so that it can be covered with a mulch. The number of seeds that are sown per area of seedbed is determined by a ‘sowing factor’ that includes information on seed germination, desired seedling growing density, expected seedling survival etc | |
| 0010019 | root pruning | The lateral roots between the seed rows are also pruned with a vertical root pruner. This piece of equipment is sometimes "belly-mounted" under the tractor which allows precise placement by the tractor operator. | |
| 0010026 | lifting, grading, & storage | Lifting consists of drawing an inclined, vibrating blade under the seedlings, usually at a depth of about one foot. The inclined blade lifts the seedlings out of the seedbed and the vibrating action loosens the soil from around the roots. | |
| 0010035 | lifting, grading, & storage | Storage containers are transported to a cooler where they are kept at temperatures near freezing to maintain dormancy and cold hardiness. Each box is marked with the proper seed source code which describes the origin of the seedlot. | |
| 0010046 | containers | There are many different types of containers which range in capacity from 16 cm3 cc (1 in3 ) to 492 cm3 (30 in3) or even larger. Common container types include styrofoam blocks, book planters, and several types made of molded rigid plastic. | |
| 0010048 | containers | New types of containers are continually being developed. Some have special ventilation holes between cells, wheras others feature a copper coating in the cavity to chemically root prune the seedlings. | |
| 0010054 | growing media | Containers are filled with growing media in several different ways. Smaller nurseries fill the containers by hand, but automated filling machines do everything from filling and tamping the media to sowing and covering the seed. | |
| 0010055 | seeding or sowing | The filled containers can be sown by hand or with different sowing machines. The shutterbox consists of a template with a set of holes which correspond to the pattern of the individual container cavities, and can seed 50 containers at one time. | |
| 0010056 | seeding or sowing | The operator fills all the offset holes on the shutter with seed. When the shutter is moved so that it corresponds to the holes in the shutterbox, the seeds fall through into the containers. The size of the holes in the shutter control the sowing rate, usually from 2 to 6 seeds per hole depending on seed quality. | |
| 0010057 | seeding or sowing | Precision sowing machines can accurately control the sowing density down to one seed per cavity. Although expensive, these machines can speed up the sowing process, save valuable seed, and greatly reduce the need for thinning. | |
| 0010058 | mulching | The final stage in the sowing process consists of covering the sown seed with some type of mulch, such as perlite, grit, or coarse vermiculite. Light-colored mulches are preferred because they reflect sunlight and therefore do not heat-up as much as darker materials. |
