affected by species and this aspect will be discussed later in connection with 

 planting specifications for individual plants. 



The three types of planting stock (sprigs, pot-grown seedlings, and plugs) 

 vary in availability, cost, and ease of planting: 



(a) Sprigs are the least expensive of the three types and easier 

 to handle, transport, and plant. They must be obtained either from 

 field nurseries (planted a year or more in advance) or from young 

 developing natural stands, or from along the edges of stable or 

 expanding marshes. Sprigs can only be dug satisfactorily from sandy 

 substrates. 



(b) Pot-grown seedlings are more expensive to grow and plant, 

 more awkward to handle and transport, but relatively easy to produce. 

 Seedlings of most species can be grown to transplanting size in 3 to 

 5 months and this can be done almost anywhere with very simple, inex- 

 pensive facilities and equipment. However, their cost is usually at 

 least two to five times that of sprigs. Seedlings become increasing- 

 ly expensive to carry over when transplanting is delayed. Repotting 

 in larger containers soon becomes essential. The coordination of 

 plant production and site preparation is a frequent stumbling block 

 in the use of seedlings. 



(c) Plugs are the most expensive planting type; the cost is 

 usually about twice the cost of pot-grown seedlings. Plugs are 

 laborious to dig, heavy, difficult to transport, and harder to 

 plant. Satisfactory plugs can only be dug from marshes growing on 

 cohesive substrates. Plugs from old crowded stands are likely to be 

 too slow in initiating new growth. However, plugs are often more 

 resistant to uprooting during the establishment period and are 

 sometimes the only planting stock available on short notice. 



3. Selecting Planting Techniques . 



The essentials in successfully transplanting salt marsh plants include 

 opening a hole or furrow deep enough to accommodate the plant to the required 

 depth, keeping the hole open until the plant can be properly inserted to the 

 full depth, closing the opening, and firming the soil around the plant. This 

 operation should be done during low water, as it is virtually impossible to do 

 a satisfactory job of transplanting while the surface is flooded. Openings 

 can close too rapidly and plants tend to float out. There are a number of 

 tools and procedures that work well in substrate that is not flooded. 



Hand planting can be very satisfactory if adequate attention is given to 

 details, particularly planting depth and soil firming after planting (Fig. 

 18); it is usually the most practical method for small-scale plantings. 

 Opening of planting holes is readily done with dibbles, spades, and shovels in 

 loose, sandy soils. Portable power-driven augers work well in the more 

 difficult cohesive or compact soils. Normally planting crews work in pairs, 

 one worker opening holes and the other inserting the plant and closing the 

 hole. A third worker is used if fertilizer is added in the planting hole; the 

 third worker drops in a measured amount of material just after the hole is 

 opened and before the plant is inserted. 



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