Sowing of seeds in the nursery and nursery management

Sowing of seeds in the nursery

SEED CHARACTERISTICS 

      Healthy SEED (free from insect/diseases)

      VIABILITY (more than 80%)

      SOURCE OF SEED (Authentic)

      SUITABLE VARIETIES/HYBRIDS (locally adopted)

Germination of Seed

      Seed quality

      Seed age

      Sowing depth

      Proper temperature

      Proper moisture

Seed sowing

n  Seed pre-treated with fungicide

n  Hot water treatment: reduce seed-borne diseases. Old seed may be damaged by hot water treatment

n  After treatment, the seed should be spread on trays to dry. Hot water treated seed should be seeded quickly as the germination will decrease rapidly with time.

n  Seeds priming: improve seed vigorous.

HOW TO RAISE SEEDLINGS

      Raised Beds (15cm raised)

      Plastic Sleeves (10cmx12cm)

      Plastic Trays     

TRADITION

•      Previous practice through seeds and bare roots seedlings

•        Use of expensive  imported compost/peat moss

NEW INOVATIVES

•      Growing healthy seedlings using   multipots trays and poly tubes

•        Use of low cost local sterilized  compost as medium of

After the seed bed preparation seeds are sown in the nursery bed either by broadcasting or in lines depending upon the nature and season of crop.

••         Broad casting method: In broadcasting method seeds are broadcasted on the well prepared nursery beds and later on the seeds are covered with well rotten fine sieved and treated FYM or compost.

•           The major disadvantages of this method are:

•           Uneven distribution of seeds in the nursery beds.

•           Growth and development of seedlings is poor.

•           Some times nursery becomes so dense to look like as patches of grasses. In such cases there is more possibility of damping off disease occurrence.

Line Sowing

•           Line sowing is the best method of seed sowing in nursery.

•           Lines are made 0.5 to 1.0 cm deep parallel to the width at an distance of 5.0 cm from the line and seeds are sown or placed singly at a distance of about 1.0 cm apart.

•           Cover the seeds with fine mixture of sand, soil and well rotten and sieved FYM or leaf compost etc. (1:1:1). After the seed covering a light irrigation must be given.

Seed covering material and its treatments

Seed cover

After seed sowing the seed that are sown either by broadcast method or line sowing method required cover for better emergence. Therefore, a mixture of sand: soil: FYM in the ratio of 1:1:1 is prepared, well mixed together and treated with any method of soil treatment as discussed above. It will be better to treat this mixture while treating the nursery soil. Apply 3-4 g thiram or captan per kg mixture if, it is not treated. Care should be taken that every seed is well covered by seed covering material.

Use of mulch

To maintain the soil moisture for seed germination cover the seed bed with a thin layer of mulch of paddy straw or sugar cane trash, or sarkanda or any organic mulch during hot weather and by plastic mulch (plastic sheet) in cool weather. It has following advantages:

•           It maintains the soil moisture and temperature for better seed germination.

•           It suppresses the weeds.

•           Protects from direct sunlight and raindrops.

•           Protects against bird damage.

Irrigation

            The nursery beds require light irrigation with the help of rose can till the seeds get germinated.

•           Excess rainwater or irrigated water should be drained out from the field as and when it is required otherwise plants may die due to excess of water.

•           Watering in the beds depends upon the weather condition. If temperature is high, open irrigation is applied. Need not to irrigate the beds during rainy days.

Thinning

•           It is an important operation to remove weak, unhealthy, diseased, insect pests damaged and dense plants from the nursery beds keeping distance of about 0.5 to 1.0 cm from plant to plant.

•           The thinning facilitates balance light and air to each and every plant. It also helps in watching the diseased and insect pest attacked plants while moving around the nursery.

Weed control

•           Timely weeding in nursery is very important to get healthy seedling. If there are some weeds in the seed bed, remove them manually either by hand or by hand hoe (thin forked Khurpi).

•           Pre emergence herbicides can also be sprayed soon after seed sowing to control the weeds. Stomp @ 3 ml/litre of water should be sprayed on the nursery beds after the seed sowing and seed covering with mixture of FYM. soil and sand

Selection of seedlings for transplanting: After attaining proper growth, seedlings are transplanted in main field. At the time of transplanting, seedling should be:

•           Stocky and sturdy

•           Should have good rot system

•           Should be free from any insect pests and diseases.