Welcome to my blog,today we will be discussing about plant production in full details. Plant production i.e. the production of new plants can be vegetative or asexual or sexual reproduction which is usually by the fusion of the male and female reproductive units. With the flowering plants after the fusion of the reproductive units the matured ovules become the seeds.
The seeds form the basis of new plant production via the process of germination.Apart from the seeds new plants can vegetatively be reproduced.This is by using stem cuttings, roots, leaves or branch cuttings. In both cases of the use of seeds and vegetative parts for new plant production certain techniques are employed. The techniques are obviously used in a tree nursery.
Nursery
The tree nursery could be defined as.home of news plants. It is made up of intensive/extensive care units. The parts of the nurseryare the store were materials are kept, soil dump where potting mixture is prepared, germination beds usually 3ft X 30ft or 90cmX900cm, watering cans, poly pots, seeds transplant beds, palm leaves for initial shades over the germination beds etc. Depending on the type of seeds,they could be sown directly into the germination beds of if very small like the seeds of Nuclea diderrichii.
They can be broadcast on the germination bed or boxes and covered with a thin layer of soil. The term broadcast means spreading the seed evenly on the surface of germination bed or boxes. A suitable shade of palm leaves is made over the beds.
Watering Regime
The beds are watered at regular intervals, preferably morning and evening. Over flooding is avoided to save the seeds and seedlings from plant pathogens that could destroy the seeds and seedlings.
Nursery Sanitation
This is mainly done to prevent plant disease and ensure healthy seedlings. The following area are of great importance
1 Weeding
This is Usually Manual within and around pots and beds,The removal of weeds reduces the competition for available nutrients and water for the seedlings. A weed is a plant growing where not needed
2 Watering
Watering the pots and beds is done to field capacity. The pots have drainage holes through which excess water can drain out.over flooding of pots and beds is avoided as this can cause fungi disease which will eventually result in the death of seedlings in the nursery and thus amount to economic waste.
3 Shading
This is done using palm leaves to prevent the young seedlings from the direct sun rays and this is gradually removed in the process called hardening up. This is a process where the seedlings are gradually exposed to environmental conditions the plants will meet in the field when out planted,the process takes place in the transparent bed stage.
Transparent Stage
At two leaves stage of development,the seedlings are transplanted from the transplant beds to the germination beds. Before moving the young seedling,the germination beds are watered to enable easily lifting of the seedling from the germination bed without damage. Lifting the seedling with ball of soil is encouraged to ensure quick establishment of the seedling. The seedlings stay in the transplant beds for up to nine months before preparing them for out planting in the field as stumps or seedlings with some leaves removed to withstand wilting
Field planting materials
Field planting could be stumps,bare rooted seedlings or containerized seedlings
Stumps
These are prepared in the nursery,Typical good and bad stumps will look these illustrations
Ecological (weed control)
This practice is to keep as much weed as possible away. This is to reduce completion for water and mineral nutrients from the soil.
Thinning
This is a reduction operation.where there is over stocking in which cause there is over population,some of the plants are deliberately removed. The sequence follows the removal of the dead,dying,diseased etc. this operation is calling thinking.
The thinned species have intermediate economic value as they could be sold as fuel wood. There are two types of thining which are pee commercial thining for the health of the plantation and commercial thining which is deliberate removal of some of the species to earn some revenue. The ones to be removed as usually marked with exclusion of those with the prospect of becoming the final crop
Prunning
Agroforestry
AgroforestryThis defines a system where by forestry and agricultural crops are growth together on the same piece of land. It is a cheap form of forest plantation establishment. The under lying principle is while the farmer maintain their farms,they indirectly maintain the forest treee crops. Taungya is a common form agroforestry.
