TLE Q3 NURSERY MANAGEMENT

• A nursery is a place where plants are propagated and grown to a usable size, including:

  • Retail nurseries that sell to the general public
  • Wholesale nurseries that sell only to businesses and other nurseries
  • Commercial gardens and private nurseries that supply the needs of institutions or private estates
• Nurseries are vital to many branches of Agriculture, Forestry, and conservation biology
• Some nurseries specialize in one phase of the process: propagation, growing out, or retail sale, or in the type of plants like ground covers, shade plants, or rock garden plants
• Temporary nurseries satisfy the requirements of seasonal or targeted projects, while permanent nurseries are set up continuously to produce plants according to types
• Types of nurseries include:

  • Fruit plant nurseries for developing seedlings and grubs of food crops
  • Vegetable nurseries for plants like cauliflower, cabbage, brinjal, and tomatoes
  • Flower nurseries for seedlings of flower plants like carnation, salvia, rose, colliers aster, and dieters
  • Forest nurseries for seedlings useful for forestation like pine, oak, teak, eucalyptus
  • Miscellaneous nurseries for plants with great economic value and medicinal herbal plants like rose, calendula, and marigold
• The farm management system aims to enhance businesses' status and recognition, improve professionalism, reduce costs, increase marketplace recognition, and improve staff knowledge and skills
• Nursery site selection considerations:

  • Soil should be free from large stones and hard pans, well-drained, and hold together around roots
  • Avoid locations that flood periodically
  • Ideal site has slightly sloping topography for water drainage
  • Reliable source of clean, pest-free water is important
  • Soil management practices include controlling traffic to reduce compaction
• Good nursery soil supports beneficial fungus, bacteria, and earthworms, is rich in slow-release nutrients, and has high cation exchange capacity
• Environment requirements for nursery management include watering according to plant needs, avoiding excessive shade for healthy plant development, and using fertilizers to enhance growth
• Fertilizers provide nutrients for healthy plant growth, with main macronutrients being nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium
• Manure, obtained after decomposing organic matter like cow dung, is used as organic fertilizer to add essential elements to the soil
• Maintenance of nurseries involves daily watering, partial shading when needed, and inspection for diseases and pests
• Characteristics of good nursery soil:

  • Loose friable texture that crumbles well
  • Absence of clods and under-laying hardpan below the plow depth
  • Rich with slow release nutrients and high cation exchange capacity
  • Freedom from crusting upon drying out
  • Supports beneficial fungi, bacteria, and earthworms
• In nursery management, having a water source of its own is crucial for watering plants
• Excessive shade in high plant densities can result in etiolated and elongated growth of seedlings, making them weak