Plant nursery facts for kids
A nursery is a special place where plants are grown from tiny seeds or cuttings until they are big enough to be planted somewhere else. Think of it like a plant school! Nurseries grow plants for many reasons, such as for gardening, planting new forests, or helping protect nature. They are different from farms that grow food.
There are a few kinds of nurseries:
- Retail nurseries sell plants directly to people like you and me for our gardens.
- Wholesale nurseries sell plants in large amounts to businesses, like other nurseries or gardeners who design landscapes.
- Private nurseries grow plants for specific places, like big parks or private estates.
A "nurseryman" is simply a person who owns or works at a plant nursery.
Some nurseries focus on growing only certain types of plants, like groundcovers (plants that spread low to the ground), shade plants, or plants for rock gardens. Others might grow specific kinds of trees, like fruit trees for orchards or timber trees for wood.
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Types of Nurseries
There are two main types of nurseries: wholesale and retail. Sometimes, a nursery might do a bit of both!
Wholesale Nurseries
Wholesale nurseries grow huge numbers of plants. They sell these plants to other businesses, such as retail nurseries, landscapers, and garden centers. These businesses then sell the plants to the public.
Wholesale nurseries can be small, growing just one type of plant, or very large, covering many acres. They start new plants from seeds, cuttings, or buy small plants from other growers. These small plants are then grown bigger until they are ready to be sold. Some wholesale nurseries grow plants specifically for a customer who ordered them, while others grow a variety of plants to sell to anyone who needs them.
Retail Nurseries
Retail nurseries are the places you might visit to buy plants for your home or garden. They sell plants that are ready to be planted right away.
How Plants are Grown
Nurseries use different methods to grow new plants. This process is called propagation.
Plant Propagation
New plants can be started in several ways:
- Seeds: Just like planting a seed in your garden.
- Cuttings: Taking a piece of a stem or root from an existing plant and encouraging it to grow new roots.
- Tissue culture: Growing plants from very tiny pieces of plant tissue in a lab.
- Grafting: Joining parts of two plants together so they grow as one.
- Division: Splitting a larger plant into smaller ones.
Once new plants are started, they are grown until they reach a good size. Sometimes, they are sold to other nurseries to be grown even bigger, or they are sold directly to retail nurseries or garden centers.
Growing Environments
Nurseries grow plants in different places:
- Open fields: For larger plants like decorative trees and shrubs.
- Container fields: Where plants are grown in pots or containers. These are often sold in garden centers.
- Tunnels or greenhouses: These covered structures protect plants from weather and allow growers to control temperature and light.
Nurseries also grow plants for special purposes, like planting new forests, or for zoos, parks, and cities. For example, tree nurseries in the U.S. grow about 1.3 billion tree seedlings each year for replanting forests!
Preparing Plants for Planting
Before plants leave the nursery, they often go through a process called conditioning. This helps them become stronger and better able to survive when they are planted in their new home.
Hardening Off
One important part of conditioning is hardening off. This makes seedlings tough enough to handle cold weather, especially frost. Nurseries gradually expose plants to colder temperatures so they can get used to it. This helps the plants build up their natural defenses against freezing.
For example, conifer (cone-bearing) tree seedlings are considered ready when their top buds have formed and their stems and roots have stopped growing. This means they are ready for winter.
Forest Tree Nurseries
In forest tree nurseries, the soil is carefully managed to help seedlings grow strong. They add important nutrients like Nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium to the soil. These nutrients are like food for the plants.
However, too much fertilizer can make the top part of the seedling grow too fast compared to its roots. This can make the plant top-heavy and less able to survive when planted in a forest. It's all about finding the right balance!
Planting Stock Types
When plants are ready to be planted in a forest, they are called "planting stock." This can include seedlings (young plants), transplants (seedlings that have been moved to another nursery bed to grow bigger), or cuttings.
The goal of planting stock quality is to make sure the plants are fit for their purpose and will grow well in their new environment. It's not just about how a plant looks; its inner health and ability to grow new roots are very important for its survival.
Classifying Seedlings by Age
Nurseries often use a code to describe the age of a seedling. For example, "2+0" means the seedling spent 2 years in the seedbed and 0 years in a transplant bed. "1+1" means 1 year in the seedbed and then 1 year in a transplant bed. The numbers add up to the total age of the plant. So, a 2+0 seedling is 2 years old, and a 1+1 seedling is also 2 years old, but they were grown differently.
Plant Health and Survival
Even if a plant looks healthy, its ability to survive after being planted depends on many hidden factors, like its ability to grow new roots. Scientists study these things to make sure the plants sent out from nurseries have the best chance of growing into strong trees.
For example, plants need to be able to handle heat from the sun on the soil surface. They also need to be able to get enough water. Nurseries try to grow plants that are tough and can handle the challenges of their new environment.
Plants also continue to "breathe" (respire) even when stored in cold places. Nurseries must keep them at the right temperature to make sure they don't use up all their energy reserves.
See also
In Spanish: Vivero (jardinería) para niños
- Seed orchard
