Understanding Nursery Production Facilities

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Lesson 1

• Understanding Nursery Production Facilities

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Next Generation Science/Common Core Standards
Addressed!

• WHST.9-12.9 Draw evidence from informational
  texts to support analysis, reflection, and
  research. (HS-LS1-1)
• HSSIC.A.1 Understand statistics as a process for
  making inferences about population parameters
  based on a random sample from that population.
  (HS-LS2-6)

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Bell Work!

• Explain the scope and history of the Nursery
  Industry.
• Describe the different types of nurseries.
• Explain the economic factors involved in
  selecting a nursery site.
• Describe the different types of nursery
  facilities.
• Explain how a plant hardiness map is used.

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Terms

• Broker/re-wholesaler
• Cold frame
• Cold storage
• Commercial production
• Competition
• Containerized
• Drainage

• Erosion
• Evaporation
• Field grown
• Garden center
• Hardiness
• Head house
• Hotbeds
• Hydraulic
• Liner plant

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More Terms

• Turgid
• Wholesale

• Mass-marketers
• Mail order
• Moisture
• Orchardist
• Over wintering
• Quarantine
• Retail
• Shade houses

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Interest Approach
Using the pamphlets and books from various
nurseries that I gave you, chose two types of
trees that you would like in your backyard. How
much do they cost? Are the costs very different
between the two you choose or between yours and a
classmates? What steps in the production of
these trees can account for their high costs?
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History of the Nursery Industry

• A fruit tree nursery was the first nursery
  industry noted. It was from the Massachusetts
  Bay Colony in 1644.
• Many nurserymen of the late 1700s and early
  1800s were orchardists - a specialty nursery
  worker who deals with fruit trees.
• William Prince established Prince Nursery in 1737
  when he was so successful at growing trees and
  selling to his neighbors that he turned to
  commericial production.

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History, continued . . .

• Commercial production means to produce for a
  specific market.
• Prince produced a catalog to market his varieties
  of fruit trees and even began experimenting with
  plant breeding and making new varieties.
• Jackson and Perkins, a name that is still
  familiar today, was established in 1864 as a
  nursery specializing in small fruits.

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• In 1879, Jackson and Perkins began selling a few
  roses and by 1894 they were selling over 175,000
  roses annually.
• Many nurseries in the Midwest were established in
  the 1800s.
• By 1890 there were over 4500 nurseries on over
  173,000 acres of land in the U.S. Most of these
  were small and supplied only the local area.
• Major production centers were in NY, CA, IL, OH,
  and PA.

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Still more history . . .

• In 1912, the first National Plant Quarantine act
  went into effect. The quarantine prohibited the
  importation of certain plants into the United
  States - and this helped the nursery industry
  grow.
• The Parcel Post - the package delivery branch of
  the U.S. postal service - was also established.
  This led to the rapid development of the
  mail-order catalog business.

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How has the nursery industry impacted our society?

• Bloomington, IL
• a popular nursery site in the mid 1800s because
  of the five important railroad lines that
  intersected it and the soil and climate well
  suited to a variety of plants.
• In 1852, Bloomington Nursery was considered the
  largest in the country - their packing houses,
  cold storage cellars, and buildings covered over
  20 acres.

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U.S. Impacts

• By 1974, CA was producing over 130 million
  dollars in nursery stock annually.
• By 1985, CA was producing over 435 million
  dollars and was known as a world leader in the
  production of nursery stock.
• FL, TX, PA, and TN rounded out the top five.
• In 1992, U.S. production had risen to 5 billion
  with CA, FL, VA, and OR being top producers.

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How has the nursery industry changed?

• All changes have increased and improved the
  efficiency of production.
• We have moved from manpower to animal power to
  machine power.
• New and more effective machinery, fertilizers,
  and pesticides have also helped to improve plant
  quality.

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Specific changes in the industry

• Production 1950s drip irrigation was used,
  1960s fertilizer injection systems were created,
  and in the 1970s trickle irrigation for fields
  was used.
• Facilities recently, more energy efficient and
  environmentally sound building materials have
  been introduced.

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Others . . .

• Materials new cultivars and plant varieties have
  been introduced, as well as better fertilizers
  and chemicals. Patented plants are becoming very
  popular.
• Market more rapid delivery, new marketing tools
  such as computers, and the Internet, and renewed
  popularity of gardening education (ex Martha
  Stewart)

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Types of Nurseries

• By type of sales
• By job description
• By product produced
• By crop produced

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What are the economic factors involved in
selecting a nursery site?

• Land cost
• Local land value
• Zoning and taxes
• Level of current development - consider what
  businesses will surround you. Will they be a
  benefit or a detriment?
• Level of development needed for your market

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Labor

• Employee payroll can be over 50 percent of annual
  business expenses of a typical wholesale nursery.
• Availability of work force
• Local pay scale
• Seasonal versus year round labor need - many
  employees are year round, but during the peak
  season, worker numbers may double.
• Skills of available labor

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• Transportation and Markets
• The location can determine the success or failure
  of the business.
• Cost, availability, ease of trans. - for both
  employees and the product. How will you get
  supplies to your business and your product to
  market?
• Customers availability/means - are you convenient
  for your customers?
• Utilities and services availability, cost, type

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Competition

• Any business that may be competing for your
  customers dollars is considered competition.
• Other nurseries - consider who may provide
  competition and where your business will fit in
  to the market.
• Other mass-marketers - business other than
  nurseries or garden centers that retail or
  wholesale plants.

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How does the environment affect the selection of
a nursery site?

• Temperature
• Moisture
• Wind
• Soil type and topography
• Air quality
• Plant pests
• Natural Light

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Temperature

• measured in degrees and is normally regulated by
  wind, solar radiation and humidity. Hardiness
  refers to a plants ability to withstand cold
  temperatures.
• Maximum - highest ave temperature in your zone
• Minimum - lowest ave temperature in your zone
• Average - the ave temperatures in your zone

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Moisture

• Water either in the form of rainfall or
  irrigation. It is responsible for many plant
  functions, and processes. Plant cells need to be
  filled with water to remain turgid. Turgid
  refers to water pressure that supports the plant
  physically.
• Quality - the water can be tested for pH,
  fertility, and chemical properties

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More about Moisture

• Quantity - concerns both how much is applied and
  how often or when it is applied
• Distribution - heavy rainfall can cause many
  problems including slowdown in plant harvesting
  and cultivation, damage to young plants, and
  others
• Wind - can cause soil erosion, damage to plants,
  increased transpiration and evaporation.
  Evaporation is when water changes from a liquid
  to a gaseous state. Erosion is when the land
  surface is worn away or transported elsewhere.

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Soil type and topography

• The type of nursery determines which qualities
  are the most important in soil topography. Field
  soil should be carefully evaluated. It should
  have good physical and chemical qualities, and
  some organic matter (2-5 or more) should be
  present. Topography effects many things such as
  roads, irrigation systems, equipment usage, and
  what plants will grow.

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More about topography

• Drainage - which is the removal of excess surface
  or ground water
• The pH - which is a rating referring to the
  alkalinity or acidity of a given soil.
• Holding capacities - specifically how much water
  or air can the soil hold and for how long.

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Air Quality and Plant pests

• Air quality is a factor greatly affected by
  pollution.
• Plant pests include insects, animals, humans,
  weeds, and diseases.

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What kinds of specialized facilities are used in
nurseries?

• Propagation - facilities used specifically for
  the production of new plants.
• Production - facilities used to bring a crop to a
  saleable size and market it.

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Cold Frame

• A type of propagation facility
• A wooden or concrete block frame with a glass or
  polyethylene cover that is heated by the sun.
• Used for germinating seeds, rooting cuttings,
  over wintering plants or hardening off plants for
  sale.

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Cold Frame
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Hotbeds

• A type of propagation facility
• similar to a Cold Frame but has additional heat
  supplied by electric cables or hot water pipes.
• Used for germinating seeds, rooting cuttings or
  overwintering more temperate plants.

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Shade Houses

• A type of production facility
• protect plants from wind, temperature extremes,
  rain, hail, and sun.
• Constructed of wood lath or shade cloth.
• Used for propagation and can usually be altered
  for overwintering by covering with polyethylene.

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Shade House
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Over Wintering Houses

• A type of propagation facility
• provide a space for overwintering plant
  materials.
• Over Wintering is keeping plants safe and
  unharmed above ground over the winter.
• Usually permanent and covered with polyethylene.

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Tree House!
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Cold Storage

• A type of propagation facility
• provide a cold storage area for nursery crops
• can also be used for cold stratification
  treatments.

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Shipping/Receiving

• A type of propagation facility
• centrally located area to shelter and store plant
  materials for pick-up and delivery.

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Head House

• A type of propagation facility
• functions as a storage and work area - allows for
  work to occur in a dry, protected area.
• Pesticides and fertilizers can be stored and
  mixed, equipment can be repaired, plants can be
  potted, etc.
• Larger nurseries may have separate structures for
  potting, repairing, or chemical preparation.

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Others . . .

• Storage areas are for storing production
  materials in a protect site.
• Business offices are where the business
  management activities of the nursery occur.
• Potting areas also exist.

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Plant hardiness zone maps

• Used by nursery operators to productively grow
  plants.
• A map that identifies 11 zones in the U.S. by the
  ave annual minimum temps in each zone.
• Produced by USDA
• Recently updated to show a more complex range of
  temperatures

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Hardiness map is important because . . .

• Young plants and plants in containers are more
  sensitive to rapid temperature changes.
• It helps with plant selection.
• The zone your business is located in will
  determine which plants can be successfully grown
  in your nursery and what precautions you need to
  take to overwinter them.

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The End!