Ornamental, Fruit and Forest Plant Production
This domain tests the production of three nursery product groups: ornamentals, fruit plants and forest seedlings. The exam expects cultivar and rootstock knowledge, scheduling, and plant population calculations.
Ornamentals
- Classify crops as annuals, biennials, perennials, shrubs, trees, pot plants and cut flowers.
- Use pinching to shape pot plants, disbudding to improve flower size, and spacing to prevent stretch. Schedule sowing and potting so plants are saleable for festivals and planting seasons.
Fruit plants
- Select a cultivar suited to the region and a compatible rootstock. Use certified, true-to-type propagation material; label mother plants and grafted plants clearly.
- Harden grafts before sale and reject plants with weak unions or circling roots.
Forest seedlings
- Record the seed source and provenance. Use root trainers or nursery beds, and grade seedlings by collar diameter and height rather than height alone.
- Support root development with appropriate media and, where recommended, mycorrhizal inoculation.
Worked example
A 1 ha block is planted at 2 m × 2 m. Area per plant = 2 × 2 = 4 m². Plant population = 10,000 m² ÷ 4 m² = 2,500 plants. Add 10% for gaps and replacements: 2,500 × 1.10 = 2,750 plants. For 0.5 ha, the base population is 1,250 and the requirement with 10% extra is 1,375. The reasoning is that plant population is area divided by the area occupied by one plant; extra plants are added, not subtracted.
Traps that cost marks
Using the wrong cultivar or rootstock; selling overgrown or root-bound plants; mixing seed lots; forgetting to harden grafts; calculating population without adding replacement plants.
Key points
- Match cultivar and rootstock to the region.
- Pinching shapes pot plants; disbudding improves flower size.
- Plant population = area ÷ area per plant.
- Add about 10% extra plants for gaps.
- Grade forest seedlings by collar diameter and height.