Horticulture and Nursery Management: Propagation and Seedling Raising
What this domain tests
Propagation methods, nursery bed preparation, seedling raising and after-care for vegetables and fruit plants - the part of horticulture most often examined through practical questions.
Nursery rules
- A standard raised nursery bed is 3 m × 1 m × 15 cm, with soil, sand and well-rotted FYM mixed roughly 1 : 1 : 1. Raise the bed to drain excess water and cover it with shade net or straw.
- Treat seed before sowing (carbendazim or Trichoderma) to reduce damping off, and sow in lines 5 cm apart.
- Tomato, brinjal and chilli seedlings are ready for transplanting at about 25–30 days, when they have four true leaves.
Propagation methods
Sexual (seed) propagation is cheap but variable. Perennial and cross-pollinated crops are propagated asexually to keep true-to-type plants: cuttings (rose, sugarcane), layering and air layering (guava, litchi), grafting (mango - stone or veneer grafting), budding (citrus, rose), suckers (banana, pineapple), rhizomes, tubers and bulbs.
Worked example
How many seedlings will a 3 m × 1 m bed give at 5 cm × 5 cm spacing? Bed area = 3 m² = 30,000 cm². Each seedling occupies 5 × 5 = 25 cm². 30,000 ÷ 25 = 1,200. Deduct about 10% for edge rows and culls, so plan for roughly 1,080 usable seedlings. Reasoning: convert both areas to the same unit first.
Traps that cost marks
Using grafting and budding interchangeably; assuming seed gives true-to-type plants in mango or guava; overwatering the nursery, which invites damping off.