Evaluation of Plantable Containers for Groundcover Plant Production and Their Establishment in a Landscape

The demand for groundcover plants for landscape use is increasing. Plantable containers are becoming available in sizes appropriate for groundcover plants. Landscapers are seeking ways to decrease the time required to prepare and plant groundcover beds. Studies were conducted in 2011 and 2012 to evaluate plantable containers for a variety of groundcover plants. The study has shown that ‘Bronze Beauty’ ajuga (Ajuga reptans), ‘Herman’s Pride’ lamiastrum (Lamiastrum galeobdolon), ‘Beacon Silver’ lamium (Lamium maculatum), ‘Immergrunchen sedum (Sedum hybridum), ‘Red Carpet Stonecrop’ sedum (Sedum spurium), and ‘Vera Jameson’ sedum (Sedum telephium) were grown to a marketable size from 1.5-inch plugs in 8 weeks in Lexington, KY, when transplanted in May through August. ‘Big Blue’ liriope (Liriope muscari) from bare root bibs required 12 weeks. Plant growth in a 90-mm paper container and 80-mm bioplastic container was similar to that of plants grown in standard 3-inch rigid plastic containers and required 20% less time to transplant into the landscape and grew rapidly after transplanting in the field. Peat containers in this production system yielded smaller plants and slower ground coverage after transplanting in the field than plants grown in the other containers.

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Measurement and Analyses of Growth and Stress Parameters of Viburnum odoratissimum (Ker-gawl) Grown in a Multi-pot Box System

HortScience ◽

10.21273/hortsci.39.6.1445 ◽

2004 ◽

Vol 39 (6) ◽

pp. 1445-1455 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Suat Irmak ◽

Dorota Z. Haman ◽

Ayse Irmak ◽

James W. Jones ◽

Kenneth L. Campbell ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Growth Rate ◽

Plant Growth ◽

Dry Matter ◽

The Other ◽

Plant Production ◽

Stress Index ◽

Crop Water Stress Index ◽

Viburnum Odoratissimum ◽

Marketable Size ◽

Stress Parameters

Two colors (white and black) of a recently introduced irrigation-plant production system [multi-pot box system (MPBS)] for container-grown nurseries were researched and results were compared with those obtained from the sprinkler-irrigated conventional (control) system (CS). Experiments were carried out in summer and fall of 2001 in Gainesville, Fla. Plant growth [growth index (GI), growth rate (GR), and dry matter] and stress parameters [stomatal resistance (rs), crop water stress index (CWSI), plant water potential (PWP), and substrate temperature (ST)] were measured and analyzed for Viburnum odoratissimum (Ker-gawl). In both seasons, plants grown in the white MPBS had significantly higher GI and GR as compared to the plants in the black MPBS and CS. In summer, plants in the white MPBS reached marketable size about 17 days and 86 days earlier than those in the black MPBS and CS, respectively. In fall, they reached marketable size about 25 and 115 days earlier than those plants in the black MPBS and CS, respectively. Plants in the white and black MPBSs showed exponential growth rate in summer with plants in the white MPBS having significantly higher growth rate (greater slope) than the other two treatments. In both seasons, plants in the white MPBS produced the highest amount of dry matter. In general, plants in the white MPBS had lower rs values to vapor transport compared to the other two treatments, and the black MPBS treatment had lower rs values than the CS in both seasons. The CWSI values of the plants in both white and black MPBSs were significantly lower than the CS. In both seasons, ST in the black MPBS and CS exceeded the critical value of 40 °C several times. The ST of >40 °C is often reported to significantly reduce the plant growth and cause root death and/or injury for container-grown plants. Overall, the white MPBS provided a better environment for root development and plant growth under these experimental conditions. Results strongly suggest that there is a potential opportunity of using MPBS for irrigation and production of nursery plants. These important findings suggest that, in practice, producing nursery plants in a shorter period of time by using white MPBS will result in significant savings of energy, water, chemicals, and other inputs and thereby reducing the costs and increasing profits.

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Origin of Multiple Trunks Affects Crapemyrtle Posttransplant Establishment

HortTechnology ◽

10.21273/horttech.13.1.0120 ◽

2003 ◽

Vol 13 (1) ◽

pp. 120-127

Author(s):

Michael A. Arnold

Keyword(s):

Substrate Surface ◽

Adventitious Shoots ◽

Growth And Survival ◽

Growing Seasons ◽

Nursery Production ◽

Black Plastic ◽

Bare Root ◽

Survival Differences ◽

Marketable Size ◽

Plastic Containers

Bare-root 17.5-inch-tall (44.45-cm) `Sarah's Favorite' crapemyrtle (Lagerstroemia indica L.) liners were grown in #3 [2.75-gal (10.4-L)] black plastic containers and trained to one, three, or five trunks by one of two methods. Half of the plants were established from multiple liners with each trained to form one of the trunks. The others were established by planting a single liner in each container, pruning them back to within 2 inches (5.1 cm) from the substrate surface, and then training elongating buds or adventitious shoots to the desired number of trunks. Once plants reached a marketable size they were transplanted to a landscape for two growing seasons to determine the effects of the treatments on trunk survival or growth uniformity in the landscape. The study was replicated in time with containerized `Basham's Party Pink' crapemyrtle liners, but only grown in the field for 1 year. Growth and quality differences were minimal at the end of nursery production for either clone, thus favoring recommendation of whichever treatment would be most economical to produce the desired growth form. However, in the landscape phase, survival of `Sarah's Favorite' crapemyrtle and growth and uniformity of `Basham's Party Pink' crapemyrtle were greater for several growth measures when multiple trunks were produced by training stems of the same plant as opposed to planting multiple liners. Trunk survival was generally good for three or fewer trunks, but significant losses often occurred when the planting units had five trunks, especially when grown from multiple liners. Growth and survival differences among treatments were more pronounced with increasing trunk number and the longer the planting units were in the field (landscape).

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