HOR 221 Nursery Production and Management

Lecture Hours: 3
Credits: 3

Focuses on production systems and management practices in container and field nurseries. Emphasizes irrigation, fertilization, pruning and other cultural practices that result in high quality plant material and healthy root systems. Covers harvesting, storing and shipping. Examines differences between container and field production. Explores current issues and trends in nursery production in Oregon.

Student Learning Outcomes:

Discuss advantages and challenges of producing plants in containers.
Compare fertilization practices for container trees and shrubs to those for field-grown trees and shrubs
Compare different irrigation systems used for field-grown plants.
Schedule container production of a specific plant from cutting to shipping.
Harvest a balled and burlapped tree and a bare root tree.
Prune trees using different cuts for field production.
Discuss current challenges to the Oregon nursery industry.

Content Outline

History and Status of Nursery Production in U.S. and Oregon
- Oregon and U.S. statistics
- Nursery types
- Oregon nursery products
Field and Container Production Systems
- Container production
  - Above ground containers
  - Pot-in-pot
  - Advantages and challenges
- Field production
  - Bare-root production
  - Balled and burlapped production
  - Advantages and challenges
- Plant life cycle in the nursery
  - Propagation
    - Seedlings
    - Cuttings
    - Grafting
    - Budding
    - Tissue culture
  - Establishment
    - Importance of strong root systems
      - Root health
      - Root pruning
  - Harvest/shipping
Site Considerations
- Site selection
  - Topography
  - Soil
  - Water
- Production areas
  - Container stock
  - Field-grown stock
Container substrates
- Components
- Mixes
Management practices
- Irrigation
  - Water source
  - Water quality
  - Estimating water requirements
  - Irrigation systems
  - Frost protection
  - Water recycling
  - Container vs. field grown
- Fertilization
  - Fertilizers
  - Application methods
  - Timing
  - Amount
  - Container vs. field-grown
- Planting
- Pruning
  - Tools
  - Techniques
  - Timing
- Harvesting and Storing
  - Bare-root
  - Balled and burlapped
- Shipping
- Nursery standards
- Production scheduling
Current Topics
- Labor
- Inventory management
- Transportation