NURSERY

MANAGEMENT
PRACHI
T.O. FTC, SUNDER NAGAR
GROUPS OF VEGETABLES BASED
ON PLANTING TECHNIQUES
 DIRECT SOWN
 Peas, Beans, root Crops & cucurbits
 TRANSPLANTED
 Tomato, Brinjal, Chillies, Capsicum, Onion, Cole
Crops, lettuce etc.
ADVANTAGES OF NURSERY GROWING
 EASY & CONVENIENT TO LOOK AFTER THE
TENDER & YOUNG SEEDLINGS IN SMALL &
COMPACT AREA
 PROVIDES FAVOURABLE CONDITIONS FOR
GROWTH
 HELPS IN AVOIDING A PART OF UNFAVOURABLE
WEATHER CONDITION
 HELPS IN GETTING AN EARLY CROP
 NURSERY PLANTS CAN BE EASILY PROTECTED
AGAINST INSECT PESTS & DISEASES
 ECONOMY OF LAND, SEED & OTHER SOURCES
 PRINCIPLE
 Plant growth is related to the efficiency with
which increasing radiation is intercepted &
converted into useful plant products.
Direct seeded crops often grow slowly through
the seedling stage and show poor light
interception & much of the light falls on the bare
soil which is wasted. Light interception improves
directly with leaf canopy cover until a point is
reached where mutual shading reduces the
functioning efficiency of lower leaves. The ratio
of the leaf area to the area of ground covered is
known as Leaf Area Index(LAI)
 PRINCIPLE –cont.
 Maximum assimilation usually occurs on LAI of
about 5, although different species differed for
it. This is particularly relevant for crops such as
cabbage, cauliflower, brussel’s sprout, broccoli
etc. which form a dense spreading canopy.
 It is always desirable that an optimum LAI
should be achieved as quickly as possible.
 Transplanted vegetables produce the necessary
leaf canopy at a much faster rate than the
direct seeded crop and retain this advantage
provided there are no post planting checks and
crop growth restrictions.
 Cost of seed also influences the
choice between direct seeding and
transplanting
Choosing a vegetable nursery
site
 1. Environmental factors
 This refers to natural features of the land,
which may greatly influence the cost of
operation and facilitate management of the
nursery.
 a) Proximity to planting site (main field)
are:
 i) Cost of transporting the seedlings to
the field is minimized.
 ii) Less risk of loss of seedlings during
transportation, and seedling failure
after transplanting.
 iii) Reducing the chances of
transmitting or redistributing soil-borne
pathogens through seedling roots or
earth balls over long distances.
 Land gradient (steepness of the land)
 It is desirable to have the nursery on a level
ground with good drainage.
 Nursery soils
 Favourable soil conditions (good drainage,
absence of toxicity, fertile, etc.).
 Water supply
 A nursery should be located where a reliable,
abundant and inexpensive supply of
uncontaminated water is available. Water
supply could be from wells, boreholes, natural
streams or irrigation channel
 Proximity to services
 Labour supply
 b) Markets
 c) Supplies
 d) Services
 Types of nursery facilities
 Greenhouses - environment fully
controlled
 * Nethouse - environment partially
modified
 * Open field - where climatic conditions
are normally favourable for the crops
grown.

 Media for raising seedlings
 Soil ,perlite, vermiculite and peat moss
 sufficiently firm enough and dense to hold
seeds in place during germination.
 - sufficiently porous to let excess water drain
away
 - have a high water holding capacity.
 - free from weed seeds, nematodes and
other pathogens.
 - high cation exchange capacity so that it can
provide nutrients
 - able to withstand sterilization treatment
Raising of Healthy Nursery
 Quality Seed
 Sufficient amount of Organic Matter in the
Nursery Area
 Length of the nursery bed can be increased
or decreased depending on the land
availability
 Breadth of the bed should not be 1 m & in no
case more than 1.2m to ensure weeding
without entering into the nursery bed
Raising of Healthy Nursery
Nursery Bed

 3m X1m X15cm
 20-25 Kg well rotten FYM + 200g
12:32:16/SSP+15-20g DM-45+20-25 ml
Chroropyriphos
DETAILED PROCEDURE
 Seed treatment with fungicide with
captan/bavistin/Thiram @2-3g/ Kg
 Sow the seeds in lines 5cm apart & cover with
thin layer of FYM
 Cover the seeds with dry grass
 Irrigate the beds twice in summers, both
morning & evening
 One irrigation sufficient during winters
 The beds must remain moist but not wet
otherwise “damping off disease of seedlings’’
appears
DETAILED PROCEDURE-cont.
 Thick sowing & sowing with broadcasting also
leads to damping off
 After germination remove the dry grass during
day time but cover the beds at night during
winter period
 If the disease damping off appears in nursery,
spray the nursery bed with DM-45 @ 0.25%
 For good healthy seedlings, urea spray of 0.3
per cent can be given when plants are 8-10cm
tall
 After 4-6 weeks, the plants become 10-15 cm
tall and are ready for transplanting
DETAILED PROCEDURE-cont.
 Stop irrigating the nursery beds 3-4 days before
the date of transplanting, so that the plants
harden
 On the day of transplanting, irrigate the bed,
then uproot the seedlings for transplanting
 Transplanting should always be done in the
afternoon & only the healthy seedlings should be
used for transplanting
 Before transplanting the uprooted seedlings
should be dipped in 0.25% DM-45 & 0.05%
bavistin
 Fix the plants well & water them daily till their
establishment in field
Beds are made, approximately 1 meter wide. They can be as
long a desired
A clear walking path between two beds is important to access beds on
both sides. Vermicompost and well-decomposed cow-dung are mixed
into the beds
The compost and dung are worked into the soil and large, hard chunks of
soil are either broken down or removed so that the bed is fine and
powdery. Using a stick, furrows are made along the width the of the bed,
leaving a gap of approximately 5cm or as wide as four-fingers
Bed preparations in scientific way
Seeds are sprinkled in a straight line into the
furrows
After sowing seeds, sprinkle a thin layer of soil and compsot
mix on the seeds , A woman brings in the hay that will be
used to mulch the beds
Straw is then used to cover the beds (mulch) to keep the seeds warm
and allow them to germinate. The straw can be removed as soon as the
seeds are seen to sprout.
Nursery raising in Cucurbits
 RAISING OF PLANTS
 Small polythene bags of 15cm X 10 cm of 100
gauge thickness
 Make holes at the base of polythene with
needles
 Fill the bags with mixture of soil & FYM
 If the soil is sandy, silt can be added & all the
three ingredients can be mixed in equal
proportion
 If the soil is clayey some sand can be added
Nursery raising in Cucurbits-cont
 RAISING OF PLANTS
 Keep the bags in a protected place where they
receive the sunshine & are safe from the
incidence of cold wind & frost
 The seed is sown in each bag at 1-1.5cm
depth in the last week of Jan., or first week of
February
 Bags should be watered after sowing & kept
moist till all the seeds have germinated
Nursery raising in Cucurbits-cont
 TRANSPLANTING
 Plants ready for transplanting after 25-30 days
of sowing
 The development of first true leaf by the plant
is indicative of their proper stage of
development
 With held irrigation 2-3 days before
transplanting
 Bags should be placed near the hills/field
where these are to be transplanted
Nursery raising in Cucurbits-cont
 TRANSPLANTING
 Remove the polythene of seedlings by giving a
cut with the blade.
 In the well prepared hill, dig small pit and the
soil ball holding the roots of the seedling is
placed carefully after removing the polythene
bag.
Formaline Treatment
 5% soln of 40% commercial
formulation
 1:7
 SOIL SOLARIZATION
 Plough & level the land uniformly
 Incorporate FYM & irrigate
 Spread transparent polysheet of 25-50 micron
or 100-200 gauge thackness foe 4-6 weeks
After 45 days of solarization increase in temperature : 5 cm – 7- 9◦c
: 10 cm – 6 - 7◦c
: 20 cm – 4 -5 ◦c
Multicelled plastic plug or pro-trays
nursery raising
 Plastic trays of uniform size with cells of equal size
are fixed in thermocol basin are mostly prefered
 The cells shape may be flat, pyramid, round and
hexagonal –all have similar effect but cell size have
a clear cut effect on growth
 Deeper celled trays have more faster growth
because of more water and nutrient uptake
compared to shallow celled trays.
 Larger cell sizes generally gives larger yields in the
field for longer cycle crops like tomato and
capsicums.
•Container used for nursery raising must
have good drainage and be able to hold
soilless media and ease in handling.
Table: recommended size of cell in plastic
trays
Crop Cell size (inches) Optimum size for
early production

Tomato, brinjal 1.5-4 3.0

capsicum 1.0-4 2.0

chilli 1.0-3 2.0

cucumber 1.5-4 2.0

Cole crops 1. -3 2-3.0

Optimum temperature ranges
for germination of seeds
Crops Germination Appr. Days Growing Growing
(0 C) to temp. temp.
emergence during day during night
(0 C) (0 C)

Tomato, 21-24 3-4 18-21 12-18

brinjal
Capsicum 26-28 4-6 18-21 12-18
&chilli
Cole crops 18-24 2-3 10-18 8-14
Cucurbits 24-30 2-3 21-24 12-18
Onion 18-24 3-4 16-18 8-15
For healthy seedlings growth one seed per cell is sufficient, however, if
some more seeds are sown then one seedling may be retained per cell
after thinning and the thinned seedlings can be gap filled in where there is
no seed germination
Rooting media for raising seedlings
 Mostly artificial soil-less media is used for
raising seedlings
 Cocopeat
 Vermiculite
 Perlite
 Mix above in the ratio of 3:1:1 before filling
in the plug trays.
 Media containing coarse textured peat
provide better drainage and aeration
promoting better root development of
transplant.
Cocopeat: it is prepared from the waste of
coconut husk. It has good porosity, improved
drainage and air movement. It is free from infestation
of any pest.

Perlite: it is light rock material and is heat

expanded aluminium silicate rock.its role is to improve
aeration and drainage.
 Vermiculite: It is heat expanded mica. It is light in
wt. and has minerals (Ca & Mg) for enriching the mix.
It is neutral in reaction.
 Advantages of soil-less media
 Uniformity of mix
 Ease of handlings

 Versatility

 Sterility: free of diseases

 Good drainage and moisture retention

 Convenience of use

# After sowing the seeds a thick layer of

vermiculite is given to cover the seeds for
better germination as this media has good
water holding capacity.
Slides of raising seedlings
Healthy seedlings in
trays Tomato seedlings
 Scientific nursery raising
technology