g9-powerpoint.pptx proper use of nursery tools

lesson for Grade 9

1. PROPER USE OF NURSERY TOOLS AND EQUIPMENT

2. For the safe use of the tools and equipment the following is required; Conduct checks on all tools and equipment before using them to identify unsatisfactory or faulty items.

3. Always use sharp tools with caution and concentration to avoid cuts to hands and fingers. Secateurs, scissors and knives may be used for the propagation and maintenance of plants.

4. o Use correct lifting methods when you are lifting plants, tools and equipment. Team lifts anything that is too heavy for one person.

5. o Do not overload wheelbarrows and trolleys with soil or plants . o Wear protective gloves when sorting and neatly stacking pots, pot trays and propagation trays as they tend to attract spiders and other insects.

6. Always return tools and equipment to the designated safe storage areas after use. Keep walkways or working areas uncluttered by equipment when temporarily not in use. Be aware of vehicle and trailer movement at all times in and around the nursery areas.

7. Procedure and practice Sorting, weeding and pruning of potted and newly propagated seedlings should be done regularly. This is done in order to avoid nursery pests and diseases. These activities may prevent spread of diseases and pests once early emergence is detected.

8. Here are suggested ways : At the end of each week activity:  wash down working benches  clear dead plants away quickly (burned or buried into the soil  wash out kidney trays and seed soaking containers after us .  wash used tools including soiled trays  remove and pack unused moss, coir dust and soil

9. At the end of the day:  clean up pots and trays under tables  remove unused sterilized soil from potting table  put things away in their storage places  remove rubbish  store used moss, compost, coir dust and soil in closed bags

10. Always:  wash used pots and trays and tools, equipment in diluted bleach, vinegar or detergent  keep cigarettes and food away from production areas  separate recycling  compost left over foods and seed flesh into the worm farm or composting bin  compost, water soak and rot seedlings or burn infected plant parts quickly

11. CARE OF SEEDLINGS AND GROWING PLANTS

12. Water and Irrigation The regular supply of clean water is essential to plant growth. Plants are made out of more than 90% in water. When grown in containers, nursery plants have only a limited volume of substrate and do not have the ability like mature plants to search for water from below the soil surface. The amount of water seedlings require depends upon the following:

13. SEEDLING AGE – More water is required after germination when the seedling is young and at pricking out but this requirement reduces as the seedling grows in age

14. b. Amount of sunlight . If the area is exposed to sun, more water is needed and vice versa. However, do not keep the area shady for too long to reduce water use.

15. C. Soil type . A sandy soil losses water faster than a soil with high clay content hence sandy soil needs more frequent watering. However a clayey soil becomes hard and cracks when it dries out.

16. Seedling protection Seedlings are delicate and susceptible to attack by various pests and diseases as well as weather conditions. Such damages can seriously weaken or kill the seedlings.

17. Damage and disasters in the nursery may be categorized as follows: a . Weather conditions This is damage caused by the adverse weather conditions. We can either regulate watering or shading to comply with prevailing weather conditions

18. b. Human This is the stealing and/or intentional damaging of seedlings by human beings. Fencing and security are such options to overcome this.

19. c. Livestock and wild animals Livestock and wild animals browsing or grazing on seedlings, fencing can offset this. Rodents such as field mice/rates frequently cause serious damage to seedlings in the nursery as well as in the field by eating them. To control these, cleaning the nursery helps to reduce their population.

20. d. Insects Common insect pests in the nursery are : 1. Thrips ( Stenchaetothrips biformis )-There is laceration of the tender leaves and it the plant sap is sucked. Young seedlings show yellow (or) silvery streaks on the leaves. Terminal rolling and drying of leaves from tip to base and causes damage both in nursery and main field.

21. Green leafhopper ( Nephotettix virescens )- The symptom of damage is yellowing of leaves from tip to downwards. Vector for the disease is rice tungro virus and the plant is characterized by transitory yellowing.

22. Rice case worm ( Nymphula depunctalis )- The caterpillars feed on green tissues of the leaves and leaves become whitish papery.

23. Paddy stemborer ( Scirpophaga incertulas )- It causes drying of the central shoot known as “dead heart” and the panicle becomes dried known as “white heads”.

24. Swarming caterpillar ( Spodoptera mauritia )- - The larvae cut the seedlings in large scale. If severe infestation happens, cattle grazing appearance will be seen in the rice field. They feed voraciously and transfer from one field to the other.

25. They can be identified by the following: egg –laid in masses on leaves and covered with grey hairs. o larva-caterpillar is cylindrical dark to pale green with lateral lines along the body. o pupa - Pupates in an earthen cocoon in soil o adult - Moth is medium sized stoutly build. Dark brown with a conspicuous triangular spot on fore wings . To control: Drain the water and spray chlorpyriphos 20 EC 80ml + 20 liter of water.

26. Common diseases Although there are various diseases which attack seedlings in the nursery, damping off and wilt are described here since they are the most common fungal diseases in the country . Damping Off This is a fungal disease caused by Pythium spp ., Rhizoctonia salani . The severity of the attack usually increases with increase in soil moisture. Damping off can occur before germination, after germination and during pricking. The fungi attack the seedlings at soil level and causes rotting.

27. Conditions favorable for the spread of the disease are ; o high sowing density o over watering o using soil with partially decomposed material

28. Powdery mildew First, small white powdery patches are formed on the leaf surface and later the whole surface of the leaf is covered with white powdery mycelial colonies. Damaged leaves gradually defoliate. This affects the growth of young seedlings. Control-fallen diseases leaves should be buried in soil or burned and the young seedlings sprayed with Benlate .

29. TYPES OF PLANTING MATERIALS (PROPAGULES) The planting materials or propagules can be prepared through seeds and by asexual means. The asexual means of propagation in most instances is preferred, but there are plant species that do not lend themselves to this method of propagation. Some species can only be multiplied through the use of seeds.

30. METHODS OF PLANT PROPAGATION A. Propagation by seed – the cheapest way of propagation. Fruits like jackfruit, pili, papaya, guyabano and plantation crops like The use of seed is the most practical and even coconut and cacao are commercially propagated by seeds. Rootstocks that are used in grafting are propagated by seeds.

31. Advantages of using seeds Most practical and cheapest way b . Stronger anchorage (for fruit trees grown from seed) which makes the tree resistant to strong winds

32. Disadvantages of using seeds Fruit trees take a longer time to bear fruits. b . The resulting plant does not retain the characteristics of the parents because of gene segregation. c . Plants tend to grow into large trees.

33. Seed Quality/Viability Seeds can be categorized into two types based on the initial moisture content during extraction and the way viability is influenced by reduction in moisture while at storage. They are:

34. 1. recalcitrant seeds – here the moisture content is initially high and the loss by drying below the critical level (20%) will lead to rapid loss of viability. Examples are mango, lanzones , santol , jackfruit, rubber and oil palm

35. 2. orthodox seeds – these seeds can be dried to prevent respiratory processes and placed in air tight containers to exclude oxygen. Refrigeration and the use of desiccants in ordinary room storage will ensure viability to be extended for a year.

36. Germination Test One way of assessing the viability of seeds is by performing germination test. Most seeds especially fruits and plantation crops are enclosed by a hard seed coat or a mucilaginous material that prevents the entry of water into the seed.

37. To stimulate seed germination, the following steps can be done. 1. Scarification – This procedure can be done chemically (dipping in sulfuric or hydrochloric acids for less than minute; mechanically (soaking the seeds in plain water until the seed swell); dipping in boiling water for around 5 seconds; use of nail cutter to remove a small portion of seed to allow water to enter; physical cracking or rubbing the seed in sandpaper.

38. 2 . Removal of the mucilaginous substance by soaking the seeds (papaya) overnight ; rubbing with fine sand for cacao and santol .

39. B. Vegetative or Asexual Propagation The planting materials used here are vegetative propagules obtained from roots, stems leaves and asexually propagated seedlings. The advantages in the use of vegetatively propagated materials are:

40. they produce true-to-type plants suitable for plant species that do not normally produce seeds or may also produce seeds but are difficult to germinate trees are smaller compared to those propagated by seeds and they bear fruits much earlier highly useful for species with distinct maleness and femaleness ( example: rambutan )

41. Kinds of vegetative propagules 1. Runners- these are specialized growing stem parts that arise from the leaf axils of the plant and form roots of their own that render them excellent propagating materials like strawberry and black pepper

42. 2. Slips- leafy shoots that arise from axillary buds produced at the base of the plant

43. 3. Suckers – adventitious roots that arise from underground stems below the ground .

44. 6. Corms – underground solid stem structures that contain nodes and internodes; the corm can be further divided into several seed pieces 7. Root cuttings – these are used in propagating breadfruit

45. 8. Leaf bud cuttings – these are derived from axillary buds in stem and leaf; the stem bearing buds are cut into pieces and inserted in a rooting medium (example: blackpepper ) 9 . Stem cuttings – these can be used in propagating grapes, vanilla 10 . Asexually propagated materials produced from layerage , marcotting , graftage, budding

46. PRACTICES AND OPERATIONS IN A NURSERY The nursery is a facility where planting materials are grown, cared and maintained until the propagules are ready to be transferred to a permanent site for commercial growing . The common practices or operations in a nursery include the following:

47. Preparation , use and maintenance of germination or rooting beds to be used only for germinating seeds or rooting of cuttings 2. Potting or the transfer of young seedlings to individual containers like thick black plastic bags in various sizes.

48. 3. Care and maintenance of seedlings ready for transplanting. Normally seedlings are ready for transplanting when they have attained around 30 cm in height and at least 3-4 mature leaves but this varies with species and variety.

49. For specific crops, the basis is age in months. They are as follows :

50. 4 . Management of light (solar energy in nursery) Some form of shade is needed by some seedlings while in the early stages of growth and development and also those that are in the rooting beds . Crops that can be exposed to direct sunlight after transferring to polybags or thick plastic bags include mango, coconuts and citrus. Those crops that need 25 to 50% partial shade include coffee, cacao, rambutan

51. and lanzones . The shade can be provided naturally in conditions provided by the canopy of coconuts and artificial structure like nets, bamboo slats or used plastics in improvised screen houses.

52. ENVIRONMENTAL ASPECTS OF NURSERY WORK Every endeavor is an individual position when it comes to adopting and implementing eco-efficient practices. Your plant nursery operations may be just beginning this process, while others, already benefiting from incorporating initial, easy-to-apply strategies and procedures, are now prepared to implement the next level to achieve further gains.

53. Plant nurseries are increasingly considering environmental performance as part of their planning and operational procedures. Adopting eco-efficient agricultural practices will not only benefit the environment, they will also improve business operational efficiency and reduce costs.

54. Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) Personal protective equipment (PPE) is required where there is a risk of injury or contamination to you or others.

55. Equipment for use with chemicals or nursery materials may include: o respirator for dust or gas particles o waterproof boots o waterproof gloves made from vinyl, rubber, or synthetic material o waterproof pants and jacket o waterproof wide-brimmed hat with non-absorbent headband o clean overalls or outer clothing o pace shield or goggles with side shields

56. Appropriate clothing is required for all nursery work and this includes:  strong, sturdy, comfortable, closed in shoes or boots  long pants and long sleeved shirt  wide brimmed sun hat

57. Other necessary items of protection include:  sunscreen lotion  leather gloves  sunglasses  vinyl gloves – latex gloves are not recommended as many people have or develop allergies, in the form of skin rashes.

58. Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) The information on a MSDS outlines the composition of the material, its safe storage, use and application. The MSDS should always accompany chemicals and substances including soil or potting mixes. Users should be made aware of the MSDS and adhere to any recommended safety directions.

59. Working with soil There had been reported cases respiratory type illnesses from exposure to potting mix mainly from the use of bagged potting mixes. Nevertheless, as a precaution it is imperative to keep soil mixes moist at all times including when moving it from one place to another. This reduces the amount of air borne dust particles. Also, workers are required to use disposable vinyl gloves when handling potting mixes.

60. Potting and sowing materials Some other materials used in propagation mixes also have fine particles. When using these materials, a respirator must be worn and the substances need to be moistened when blending to reduce air borne particle movement.

61. Problem potting/sowing materials are: Chemicals  Perlite ( fine silky dust)  Cocoa peat ( dust )  Soil

62. It is always best to avoid the use of chemicals as much as possible and rely on alternative methods to control pest and diseases such as integrated pest management. However, sometimes it is necessary to use horticultural oils, pesticides, fungicides, fertilizers and additives.

63. If using chemicals: o Always read the label before mixing and follow safety directions. o Gloves and appropriate clothing must always be worn when mixing and applying and respirators will be necessary when spraying chemicals.

64. Some chemicals used are :  Clonex –Rooting hormone  White oil or neem oil -used as fungicides  Iron chelates or iron sulfate- is used to enhance plants once it shows yellowing or iron deficiency symptoms.  Ozmocote fertilizer- a type of slow release fertilizer

65. These are not dangerous substances however always follow directions when applying them and be aware that even though substances may be organic or plant-based there may still be a need to wear protective gloves and even a respirator.