m 



Quality Young Plants 



from Worldvi^ide 



Sources 



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PS. CO LE 



251 North Village Road, Loudon, NH 03301 

 Phone 603-783-9561 Fax 603-783-9562 



^^ 



Red Maple 



1 .5-3" caliper 

 Varieties Red Sunset*. Autumn Flame ® 



(P.P 2377), and Armstrong 



specimen quality, own root (no incompatibility 



problems), high limbed for street and commercial use 



604 Main Street, Cromwell, CT 06416 

 Phone (203) 635-5500 FAX (203) 635-3685 



jH^|. Trees Since 1929 



9fillane 9?ursenes,^nc. 



Growing 500 Acres of New England $ Finest Trees & Shrubs 



More and more growers are growing their 

 own plugs rather than buying them. 

 Availability of specific varieties, plant qual- 

 ity, and the fact that they are there when 

 you need them are some of the reasons 

 people turn to growing their own. 



Unfortunately, learning to grow a plant in 

 a cell the size of a thimble is not an easy 

 task. By buying plugs, growers avoid one of 

 the most difficult stages of plant develop- 

 ment — germination and early propagation. 

 You'll have to revisit basic information on 

 media, water quality, nutrition, and envi- 

 ronmental management. 



A tray's cell size affects the water-holding 

 capacity of the mix, so it is important to 

 realize that in a small cell, you'll have 3% 

 porosity, compared to iO% in a normal flat. 

 Because of this, you reach saturation very 

 quickly. 



Water management is everything. Relative 

 humidity in your plug house will effect how 

 quickly the tray will dry far more than soil 

 temperature. Since you are working with a 

 small volume of soil, your water quality will 

 impact the soil virtually overnight. Clear 

 watering and low ppms are the plug pro- 

 duction norm, so adjusting your water, ei- 

 ther with acid or the proper fertilizer, each 

 time you water Is imperative. For plugs, do 

 a water test annually. 



Many try to control height by limiting fer- 

 tility. I see in my travels many plug trays 

 full of elongated, half-starved plants with 

 poor root development. And all due to poor 

 nutrition. 



A fertilizer commonly recommended for 

 plug production is 13-2-13 with calcium and 

 magnesium. Low phosphorous with elevated 

 levels of Mg and Ca is critical for plugs. 

 Remember that this product will be more 

 alkaline, possibly raising your pH. Most 

 commercial plug growers today use some 

 hormones to control height and make a 

 stockier plant rather than trying to accom- 

 plish this by withholding water and nutrition. 



Jim Zablocki, Technical Manager of the 

 Northern Horticultural Group, the Scotts 

 Company, can he reached at 6o}-224-$i8}. 



DECEMBER 1998 .JANUARY 1999 



