Abstract
Every tropical nursery will have a unique design based on local needs and resources. Assessing the needs and desires of the community and potential clients is essential to define nursery objectives and determine what plants and services the nursery will provide. Starting with a small pilot nursery is a valuable step to understand how to propagate and manage plant production. A pilot phase also helps to assess costs, resources, and feasibility of operating a nursery. Nursery site selection based on environmental and socioeconomic considerations is critical. Once a site is chosen, planning the layout and flow of work supports nursery efficiency and efficacy.
The Target Plant Concept is a feedback system between nursery managers and their clients in which information from the project site is used to define and refine the best type of plant material to grow. The client and nursery manager define project objectives, site conditions, limiting factors, mitigating measures, species and genetics, stocktypes, outplanting windows, and outplanting techniques to determine the ideal plant for that particular project. The nursery then produces these target plants that are evaluated after outplanting to refine target specifications for future crops.
Nursery crop planning ensures that quality plants are ready when conditions at the outplanting site are optimal; in other words, ready when the clients need them. Crop planning involves visualizing, planning, and scheduling all the growth phases of each crop, from collection of propagules through to the delivery of field-ready plants. Propagation protocols for each species define requirements during all phases of crop growth. Record keeping helps track developments, minimize problems, and expand successes in future seasons. During harvesting, packing, and shipping, it is critical to handle plants with utmost care to maintain a high level of quality. Moisture, temperature, and physical stresses are damaging and cumulative and should be avoided. Even with the best nursery management, unforeseen problems will arise. Knowing how to approach problems systematically will ensure the nursery can overcome challenges.
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Acknowledgments
This chapter draws heavily on Wilkinson et al. (2014), and we thank Brian F. Daley, Douglass F. Jacobs, and Tara Luna for their contributions.
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Wilkinson, K.M., Landis, T.D., Haase, D.L., Dumroese, R.K. (2016). Planning and Managing a Tropical Nursery. In: Pancel, L., Köhl, M. (eds) Tropical Forestry Handbook. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-54601-3_94
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-54601-3_94
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