NZHITOTGuide(20558)

TRAINING GUIDE Propagate plants by cuttings

Unit standard: 20558, Level 4, Credits: 10, Version: 3

Training Guide © NZHITO of 24 September 2012, US 20558 v3

Contents How to use this guide ................................................................................................ 3

Introduction to this guide .......................................................................................... 5 Purpose ................................................................................................................. 5 Before you start ..................................................................................................... 5 Help and information ............................................................................................. 5

Introduction to plant propagation from cuttings .................................................... 6 What is plant propagation? ................................................................................... 6 How are plants propagated from cuttings? ........................................................... 6 Why are plants propagated this way? ................................................................... 6 Are there different types of cuttings? .................................................................... 6 What do crops need to grow well from cuttings? .................................................. 7 What tools and equipment should I use? .............................................................. 7 What role does monitoring play? .......................................................................... 7 What records should I keep? ................................................................................ 8 What legislation do I need to know about? ........................................................... 8

Preparing to propagate plants from cuttings .......................................................... 9 What information should I gather? ........................................................................ 9 Where does cutting material come from? ............................................................. 9 When should I collect cutting material? ................................................................ 9 How is plant material cut? ................................................................................... 10 How are cuttings prepared, treated and planted? ............................................... 10 How do I grow healthy and vigorous cuttings? ................................................... 15 Should I monitor and check my cuttings? ........................................................... 16

Propagating plants from cuttings .......................................................................... 17 I’m ready to go. What comes first? ..................................................................... 17 Step 1: Research your cutting species ............................................................... 17 Step 2: Select or source suitable cutting material ............................................... 19 Step 3: Prepare, treat and plant the cuttings ...................................................... 19 Step 4: Create an ideal growing environment ..................................................... 20 Step 5: Monitor the cuttings and record crop progress ....................................... 22 Step 6: Harden-off, pot-up and/or plant-out your crop ........................................ 22 Step 7: Use crop records to report on your progress .......................................... 22

Appendix ................................................................................................................... 23 More information ................................................................................................. 23 Feedback form .................................................................................................... 24

Cover photo

A glasshouse mister in action.


How to use this guide This guide contains all the information you need to complete the assessment for this unit standard. It also contains activities and extra information to help you learn the material and prepare for your assessment.

The following icons will be used in this guide to show you where you can find the extra information and activities.

Practical activity

When you see the

practical activity icon there is a practical task for you to do.

Reference

When you see the reference icon you will

be told where you can find more information about the topic.

Notes

When you see the notes icon this is a

place for you to make your own notes to look back at later.

Knowledge check

When you see the

knowledge check icon there is a written activity for you to do.

Study tip

Use this guide to prepare for your assessment.

As you read through it, highlight the difficult bits and make notes at the sides of the page to help you learn.

Ask your trainer or supervisor for help if you need it.

As you read, keep in mind your assessor will ask you to:

• Maintain stock plants according to workplace procedures.

• Maintain stock plants in a way that maximises cutting material, prevents pest and disease damage and keeps plants healthy and weed free.

• Monitor stock plants, referring to stock bed records to make sure the plants are true to their type.

• Grow three crops (of 50 plants each) from stock plants using three different types of cuttings.

• Describe the best time of year and the best ways to take cuttings from stock plants.


• Demonstrate cutting techniques, how to apply cutting treatments and propagate plants from cuttings.

• Demonstrate how to monitor, adjust and maintain the propagation environment.

• Demonstrate how to monitor cutting material and identify and address any problems that arise.

• Keep up-to-date records of propagating plants from cuttings.

Level of performance expected from you

This is a level 4 unit standard. At this level, you are expected to:

• work under broad guidance, independently, with complete responsibility for the standards of the outcome achieved.

• apply technical skills, knowledge and innovation to complete the task to the specified standard in a variety of familiar and unfamiliar contexts.

• analyse and interpret information and make an informed judgment.

Important information you need to know

You are also expected to know about the following legislation:

• Health and Safety in Employment Act (1992).

• Resource Management Act (1991).

• Plant Varieties Act (1987).

Here are the New Zealand Standards relevant to this guide:

• NZS 8409: 2004, The Management of Agrichemicals.


Introduction to this guide Purpose The purpose of this training guide is to give you the theoretical information and practical experience you need to pass the assessment for New Zealand Qualifications Standard (NZQA) unit standard 20558.

To pass the unit standard you will need to:

• Manage stock plants.

• Select and prepare cutting material.

• Manage the propagating environment.

• Harden-off rooted cuttings.

• Keep records of propagation by cutting.

Before you start Make sure you have completed unit standard 27708, Demonstrate knowledge of sexual and asexual plant propagation. Then use this training guide to help you successfully complete your final assessment.

To complete this unit standard, you will need to propagate crops from different types of cuttings. Keep this in mind as you read this guide and decide on the plants and cutting methods to use in your assessment.

Help and information If you need help with learning the material featured in this guide or with reading, writing or maths:

• Talk to your trainer

• Talk to your supervisor.

You could also contact us, the New Zealand Horticulture Industry Training Organisation. Phone 0800-467 844 or go to our website www.hortito.org.nz.


Introduction to plant propagation from cuttings In this section, you will learn the basics of plant propagation from cuttings from the steps involved in successful propagation, the types of cuttings through to the legislation relevant to this approach to plant propagation.

What is plant propagation? Plant propagation is the practice of producing new plants from plant parts such as seeds (through sexual reproduction) and vegetative material such as leaves, stems and roots (through asexual reproduction).

A useful reference on plant propagation is Hartmann and Kester’s Plant Propagation, Principles and Practices by Hartmann, Kester, Davies and Geneve.

How are plants propagated from cuttings? Here are the basic steps for propagating nursery plants from cuttings.

1. Research your cutting species.

2. Select or source suitable cutting material.

3. Prepare, treat and plant the cuttings.

4. Grow the cuttings in an ideal environment.

5. Monitor the cuttings and record crop progress.

6. Harden-off, pot-up and/or plant-out your crop.

7. Use crop records to report on your progress.

Why are plants propagated this way? Propagating nursery crops from cuttings gives growers the chance to mass produce desirable plants that are genetically the same (these plants are called clones). Growers can also use this method to grow a variety of plants, including ornamental trees and shrubs, cut flower crops such as carnation and chrysanthemum, house and pot plants, vine rootstocks and herbaceous perennials.

Are there different types of cuttings? There are many types and varieties of cuttings. Here is a list of the most common cuttings used in nursery work.

• Stem cuttings – taken from softwood, semi hardwood and hardwood.

• Herbaceous cuttings – taken from herbaceous (non woody) plants.

• Leaf cuttings – taken from the leaf petiole, leaf bud and leaf section.

• Root cuttings.


Keep in mind, all plants propagated from cuttings must be able to produce adventitious roots and/or shoots. These are roots or shoots that grow from unusual places, eg stems growing roots or roots growing shoots.

What do crops need to grow well from cuttings? Many factors influence the success or failure of plants grown from cuttings. For example, plants will grow well from cuttings that are:

• sourced from healthy stock plants

• sourced at the correct time of the year

• kept moist.

It is important to research the type of cuttings you plan to use for propagation to find out how to care for them to make sure they grow well.

What tools and equipment should I use? Commercial nurseries use a range of tools and equipment to propagate plants from cuttings. Some equipment such as sharp secateurs, plastic collection bags and spades (for root cuttings) are used to collect plant material from stock plants. Other equipment such as work benches are used for processing plant cuttings.

A budding and grafting knife. Secateurs.

What role does monitoring play? It is essential to monitor your crops throughout the propagation process. Monitoring is a systematic approach to examining and recording crop growth. You will need to examine and record:


• cutting growth, health and condition

• signs of pests and diseases

• water, light and temperature levels (as well as any changes to these levels)

• the growing-on stages from beginning to end.

What records should I keep? It is important to keep records of everything you do throughout the crop’s development. You will need to develop a production schedule and check your progress against it.

Production schedule, a written, planned approach to producing plant crops that details all the plant production requirements such as growing conditions, necessary resources, location of operations and a timeline showing what needs to be done and when.

Here is an overview of the information you should collect and keep on record.

• Source of the plant material for your cuttings and date collected.

• Full botanical plant name.

• Date of propagation.

• Number of cuttings made and batch number.

• Cutting type and treatment.

• Type of media and container used.

• Location of growing area and parameters for the cutting environment.

• Daily records of information such as the environmental conditions (air temp, percentage of relative humidity, media temp, media moisture), the hardening off date and the final numbers of successfully rooted cuttings.

What legislation do I need to know about? It is important that you are familiar with and follow your workplace health and safety policies and workplace procedures. You also need to know about some of the laws created for health and safety in the workplace, resource management and the rights of plant breeders. It is a good idea to get familiar with the New Zealand Standards, codes of practice and agrichemical information relevant to nursery work.

Plant Variety Rights Act (1987)

The Plant Variety Rights Act gives plant breeders or discoverers of new plants legal rights to those plants. This means they can make money from the commercial production and sale of their plant varieties and license others to grow the plants on their behalf. If your nursery propagates plants protected by these rights, it must have a current licence for each legally-protected plant.


Preparing to propagate plants from cuttings In this section, you will find out more about how to propagate plant from cuttings. It starts by exploring the information you need to gather before you start and concludes with an overview of how to monitor the growth and development of a cuttings crop. A series of learning activities feature in this section.

What information should I gather? Good preparation requires good research. It is important to take the time to find out about the three types of cuttings you plan to grow (to make up your crop of at least 150 plants).

Semi-hardwood cuttings, for example, are commonly used to propagate woody shrubs that do not root readily from softwood cuttings. They take longer to form roots and are less likely to succeed compared to softwood stem cuttings. However, the stored food in their stems helps them to survive longer and produce roots.

Talk to your supervisor about the research you need to do. Aim to find out how to choose the most suitable cutting method to propagate your plants. Find out how and where to source suitable cutting material, as well as identify the right time of year for plant propagation. Make sure you have the tools and equipment you need for each step in the propagation process.

Where does cutting material come from? Cutting material comes from stock plants. Stock plants can be sourced from commercial nurseries or you can grow your own.

Either way, it is important the stock plants you use for propagation are correctly identified and labelled, true-to-type (typical of the plant species or cultivar) and are healthy and vigorous.

All stock plants require the same high level of care and attention as any other nursery plant and need to be maintained in a state of young, vigorous, vegetative growth suitable to use as cuttings.

When should I collect cutting material? It is important to collect your cutting material at the correct time of year (for the plant species you are working with) and to collect it at the right stage of the plant’s growth.

The timing will vary from plant species to plant species – find out what suits the plant species you are working with.

Keep in mind, your cutting material will deteriorate from the moment you collect it. Once taken from a parent plant, the cutting material will no longer get water or take up nutrients (in the case of stem and leaf cuttings) or food (in the case of root cuttings).

Take the following actions to prevent your cutting material from deteriorating.

• Collect your material early in the morning, while dew is still on plant surfaces and the tissue cells are full of water (turgid).


• Put the material into clean, sealable plastic bags. Add water if necessary to dampen foliage and keep humidity high. Seal the cutting material in a bag as soon as possible.

• Prevent the material from drying out by keeping bags of collected cutting material in the shade or in a refrigerator at 4 degrees Celsius. You can refrigerate fresh cutting material for several days before using it.

• Process non-refrigerated cutting material as soon as possible and be careful not to let it dry out.

• Consider keeping a bottle of clean water (featuring a spray or misting nozzle) and sheets of damp newspaper handy – use the bottle or paper to regularly dampen the cutting material or keep it covered as you start the preparation process.

How is plant material cut? The plant cutting method you choose will depend on the type of cutting you are working with. However, carefully cutting plant material in the right place and in the correct way is an essential element of all successful plant propagation.

As a rule, avoid wounding plant tissue as you make cuts and remove and reduce leaves. That way your plants won’t expend important food and energy sealing their wounds or fighting any bacterial disease that entered the plant through a wound.

Where possible, follow these cutting rules.

• Make your final basal cut square to the stem to minimise the area of wounded stem tissue.

• Cut off leaves, if stripping tears the stem.

• Use sharp and clean tools suited to the type of cuttings you are making.

How are cuttings prepared, treated and planted? Again, the cutting preparation, treatment and plantings methods you choose will depend on the plant species you are working with.

Here is an overview of the methods you would use for propagating semi-hardwood cuttings.

1. Take semi-hardwood cuttings from slightly older plants, growing in season, in the early stages of the secondary thickening process.

Take cuttings between late spring and mid-summer for deciduous plants or late spring and mid-autumn for evergreen plants.

Make the cuttings up to 100mm long and include several nodes and leaves, but remove the soft growing tip.

Take off the lower two-thirds of leaves and any flower buds or spent flowers before making a final basal cut just below a node.

With larger-leaved semi-hardwood cuttings, eg Rhododendron, reduce another half of the remaining leaves by cutting across the width of the leaf blade. This will reduce the amount of water the cuttings lose through transpiration, but it will keep the volume of photosynthetic tissue the cuttings need to make food.


2. Next, treat the base of each cutting with an appropriate root-promoting hormone to increase the likelihood your cuttings will root.

3. Plant your softwood cuttings into propagation trays filled to the top with media. The tray and media must be deep enough to give your cuttings room to root and grow. Plant the leaf-free part of the stem without burying any leaf.

Place your cuttings close together in even rows across the width of the tray, taking care not to damage the base of the stems as you plant them.

Press down on the media surrounding the cuttings with your fingers as you plant them.

A typical propagation tray can take between 100 and 200 cuttings depending on the leaf sizes of your cuttings.

After planting the cuttings, place your propagation tray on a propagation bench and water the cuttings thoroughly.

If your plant species is particularly susceptible to fungal disease, add a fungicidal drench to the water.

4. Keep in mind you can insert semi-wood cuttings into media and propagate them indoors or you can plant them in covered outdoor planting beds or frames. Cuttings planted outdoors usually need a cover of clear plastic placed directly over the cuttings to increase humidity levels and prevent the cuttings from drying out.

5. Finally, set your cuttings on a heat pads or a heated bench to help them produce roots more quickly and to increase the likelihood of survival.

Plant cuttings on a heated propagation table in a glasshouse.


Research two types of cuttings, eg hardwood stem cuttings and leaf cuttings. For each cutting type, write down:

• the cutting type/name

• the reason it is used

• the plants it suits

• the steps involved in preparing and treating the cutting.

An example has been done for you to show you what to do.

Example cutting type/name:

Root cuttings.

Reason it is used:

Root cuttings are used for plants where simpler stem or leaf cuttings are not effective.

Plants it suits:

Root cuttings suit many herbaceous plants such as Phlox, Primula denticulata and oriental poppy as well as some woody plants, eg Sophora, Albizzia and Aesculus.

Steps involved in preparing and treating the cutting.

Select younger dormant roots, up to two years old. Wash the roots. Cut them into lengths of 50 to 100mm. Fully insert cuttings (horizontally or vertically) into media. Keep the root tip portion facing down for vertically-inserted cuttings. Lightly cover horizontally-inserted cuttings in media to prevent the cuttings drying out. Treat woody roots with root-promoting hormone. Water root cuttings and treat as for softwood or semi-hardwood cuttings.

Example cutting type/name (1): _________________________________________

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Reason it is used: ____________________________________________________

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Plants it suits: _______________________________________________________

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Steps involved in preparing and treating the cutting: _________________________

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Example cutting type/name (2): _________________________________________

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Reason it is used: ____________________________________________________

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Plants it suits: _______________________________________________________

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Steps involved in preparing and treating the cutting: _________________________

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Improve your knowledge of common types of leaf cuttings by reading the information below and filling in the gaps using words from the word list below.

We have filled in the first gap to show you what to do.

Common types of leaf cuttings

Kalanchoe … parent plant … rubber plants … hormone … adventitious … stalk … propagation tray … petiole … axillary bud … hardwood … soft tissue …

Two common types of leaf cuttings used in nursery propagation are leaf petiole and leaf bud cuttings.

Leaf petiole cuttings

Leaf petiole cuttings are usually used to propagate a range of houseplants, eg Saintpaulia, Peperomia and Kalanchoe . This method only suits plants that can produce roots and shoots from the leaf (petiole).

Here are the steps for this propagation method.

Take cuttings from active, young, healthy leaves of a , including a portion of the petiole.

Using a very sharp knife, trim the petiole to a suitable length and make cuts that are square to the petiole to minimise damaging the . You don’t usually need to treat these cuttings with a root-promoting .

Insert the cuttings in a suitable media while taking care not to damage the petiole or bury any part of the leaf. Try to orientate leaves to get maximum numbers in a while minimising any leaf contact between cuttings. Carefully firm cuttings in as you go.

Leaf bud cuttings

Leaf bud cuttings are typically used for plants that cannot produce adventitious shoots from their . Leaf bud cuttings are also an efficient way of propagating plants with bulky stems, eg Camellia, Rhododendron, raspberry and .

Make the cuttings following this process.

Use healthy mature leaves grown during the current season. Each cutting should include a small portion of the plant stem containing an . Make clean cuts just above and below the node.

Reduce bulky leaves but avoid cutting leaves that are likely to bleed. Instead roll them with the upper leaf surface facing in and secure with a tie.

Treat each cutting with root-promoting hormone according to whether the stem is in a semi-hardwood or state. Insert and treat cuttings as for leaf petiole cuttings.


How do I grow healthy and vigorous cuttings? Using the correct media is essential to propagating a healthy crop from cuttings. Propagation media needs excellent drainage and aeration.

Ideally use a 50:50 (equal parts) mix of pumice sand (or equivalent) and bark fibre for most cuttings in containers and a sand or silt loam for field grown cuttings.

Keep your cutting media moist but never wet and use a propagation bench equipped with a mist or fogging unit set to maintain high atmospheric humidity.

Setting a mist or fogging unit to maintain high atmospheric humidity will stop your media from drying out.

A warm, humid environment is essential for growing softwood stem, leaf petiole and leaf section cuttings. A warm, humid environment will keep leaf stomata open for photosynthesis and respiration, while limiting the amount of water lost from plant tissue by transpiration.

Here are two ways to create a warm, humid environment.

• Use propagation benches inside heated greenhouses, as well as fogging or misting units to maintain an environment of high humidity. Use heated benches to stimulate root development. Cover the benches with clear polythene sheets to help retain warmth and humidity. Aerate cuttings for about an hour each day to keep carbon dioxide and oxygen at the right levels.

• Use open benches in warm, humid greenhouses for cuttings that will grow easily. However, keep in mind, the cuttings will take longer to form roots on open benches.

Talk to your supervisor about the best growing conditions for other types of cuttings. Find out about the ideal humidity and temperature they need and the tools and equipment you can use to achieve the conditions.


Should I monitor and check my cuttings? Make a habit of regularly checking the progress of your cuttings and adjusting their growing conditions to improve their health and success rate.

Keep in mind you will need to monitor plants growing under protection and field grown plants in different ways.

For example, you will need to monitor field-grown cuttings at least twice a week. Check for weeds, soil moisture (especially if you are growing them through polythene film mulch), the presence of pests (including rabbits and possums) and diseases, as well as shoot and root development.

Field-grown cuttings usually stay in place for a full growing season – keep an eye on when to provide your crop with temporary shelter, shading and irrigation.

In contrast, monitor cuttings grown under protection in greenhouses or covered outdoor beds at least twice a day. Take time to check the following environmental conditions (of the greenhouses and propagation benches).

Ask your supervisor to give you time to observe propagators in your workplace.

Ask questions and find out about:

• selecting and sourcing suitable cutting material

• selecting the right time of year and plant growth stage for propagation

• preparing, making and treating the cuttings

• creating an ideal growing environment for the cuttings.

Practise making cuttings using spare plant material.

• Practise at least three different cutting types.

• Try out different propagation tools, eg the knife and scissors used for softwood cuttings.

• Closely inspect your cuttings and look for clean cuts with no tearing, compare the results you achieve using different tools.

• Ask your supervisor to give you feedback on your cuttings.


Propagating plants from cuttings This section is a practical section summarises the key steps of successful plant propagation and features example record sheets.

I’m ready to go. What comes first? Keep in mind your aim is to produce a crop of 150 cuttings made up from at least three different types of cutting. You will need to:

1. Research your cutting species.

2. Select or source suitable cutting material.

3. Prepare, treat and plant the cuttings.

4. Grow the cuttings in an ideal environment.

5. Monitor the cuttings and record crop progress.

6. Harden-off, pot-up and/or plant-out your crop.

7. Use crop records to report on your progress.

Step 1: Research your cutting species Step one involves thoroughly researching the three plant species you intend to propagate from cuttings.

Research the cutting type best suited to your plants and find out the time of year to source suitable cutting material. Discuss your findings with your supervisor and make sure you have a good understanding of what it will take to propagate your crop.

Hebe ‘Inspiration’ (pictured) can be propagated from softwood cuttings taken mid spring to summer.

Use this research phase to decide on your record-keeping methods. Check to see if your workplace requires you to keep records in a particular way. Otherwise, ask your supervisor for help and advice or use or adapt the example record sheets used in this section.


EXAMPLE Cuttings record sheet

Cuttings record sheet

Plant name: Cutting source:

Collection date: Processing date:

Batch No: Cutting type:

Cutting treatment: Media and container:

No. of cuttings made: Location:

Observations and activities

Date Cutting condition/stage Activities


Step 2: Select or source suitable cutting material Step two involves selecting or sourcing suitable cutting material. Before you get under way, ask yourself the following questions.

• Do I know how to correctly identify stock plants by checking plant labels and other information sources?

• Have I gathered enough information about the stock plants? Eg, have I got a record of the family name, common name and information about the origin of the plants?

• Do I know how to select stock plants that are true-to-type or typical of the plant species I want to you grow?

• How will I manage my own stock plants so they produce suitable cutting material – how and when will I prune, feed and water my stock plants?

• How will I check my stock plants for pests and diseases – and carry out regular monitoring and maintenance to make sure my plants are healthy?

Step 3: Prepare, treat and plant the cuttings Step three will vary from plant species to plant species and depend on the type of plant cuttings you are working with.

Here is an overview of what you need to do to prepare, treat and plant softwood stem cuttings into appropriate media. Softwood stem cuttings readily produce new roots and are commonly used to propagate woody shrubs, house plants and herbaceous perennials.

1. Check your secateurs, knives or scissors are clean and sharpened. Make sure the cuttings bags or containers are also clean. Fill sanitised propagation trays with suitable cuttings media.

Your work area and surfaces should be clean and tidy. Prepare the appropriate root promoting hormone according to label instructions for softwood treatment.

2. Collect plant material early in the morning using sharp secateurs. Concentrate on collecting suitable tip growths cut from stems that have not started to become woody (approximately 100mm long).

Keep the cutting material cool and moist in plastic bags.

3. Make cuttings using a sharp knife or scissors. Use healthy, strong tip growths about 60mm long.

Carefully remove the bottom two-thirds of the foliage and any flower buds. Then trim back the stem to about 50mm long and make a final, clean basal cut just below a node.

4. Apply any required treatments before you insert the cuttings into containers of suitable growing media or soil in outdoor beds.


5. Bundle the cuttings into groups of ten with all the stem bases aligned in the same position.

Dip the bases into softwood root promoting hormone then insert them one by one, directly into the media in even rows and firm in.

Label the completed trays with the insertion date, plant name, number of cuttings in the tray, and any other information required.

6. Mark out straight rows on the beds with string lines that are spaced approximately 250 to 300mm between rows within the bed.

Insert the cuttings into the bed to three-quarters of their length. Focus on the correct orientation and firming in. Make sure the cuttings are placed 100mm apart within the row.

If using polythene film mulch – punch holes before inserting the cuttings. Label rows or beds with insertion date, plant name, number of cuttings and any other information required.

Step 4: Create an ideal growing environment Step four involves providing your cuttings with the ideal growing environment they need to thrive.

1. Place cutting trays on to a covered propagation bench equipped with a misting or fogging unit and bottom heat. Water them thoroughly.

Use a fungicide drench, if necessary, at this stage. Monitor the cuttings and their environment (temperature, moisture, humidity and light) for changes. Make adjustments as necessary.

2. Water the cuttings if the soil moisture levels are unusually low at the time when they were planted. Winter rains will usually be enough to keep the soil and cuttings moist. Install any necessary shelter if the cutting beds are exposed to high wind.

3. Use the following record sheet to keep notes on the cuttings environment, including the plant name, batch number, location, month the cuttings were planted, the air temperature, media temperature, light and relative humidity. Keep records of any adjustments you make the growing environment over time.


EXAMPLE Cuttings environment record sheet

Cuttings environment recording sheet

Plant name: Batch No:

Location: Month:

Air temperature: Media temperature:

Light: Relative humidity:

Observations and activities

Date Max °C

Min °C

RH % Media °C

Media H2O

Activities/Adjustments


Step 5: Monitor the cuttings and record crop progress Monitor the cuttings and environment for changes throughout the following growing season, taking action as necessary.

Step 6: Harden-off, pot-up and/or plant-out your crop Hardening-off is a way of conditioning cuttings to become more tolerant of the conditions they will experience after planting or potting.

It is important to harden-off cuttings that have been grown indoors or under protection after they develop roots.

Once most of your cuttings have rooted, remove them from the propagation bench and put them in an environment with lower humidity, air and media temperature for 2 or 3 weeks, usually in a separate greenhouse.

Continue to monitor your cuttings, paying attention to media moisture levels. Once they have hardened off, pot or line out them out in the field where they will continue to grow.

Hebe ‘Inspiration’ (pictured) lined out in a field to harden-off.

Step 7: Use crop records to report on your progress Keep in mind the information you record can be very useful to many people. Take the time to report on your crop and what you have achieved.

Share the information with people such as sales staff (to keep customers informed and advise new customers on the timing of plant availability), customers (to keep them informed about plant availability and to let them know where plants have been sourced from) and propagators (to help schedule the use of space in the propagation and growing-on areas and monitor performance in a range of seasons or conditions).


Appendix More information

What Where to go

Environmental Risk Management Authority (ERMA)

www.ermanz.govt.nz

Hartmann and Kester’s Plant Propagation, Principles and Practices by Hartmann, Kester, Davies and Geneve.

Ministry for the Environment www.mfe.govt.nz

New Zealand Chemical Industry Council (NZCIC)

www.nzcic.org.nz

New Zealand Horticulture Industry Training Organisation

www.hortito.org.nz

Occupational Safety and Health www.osh.dol.govt.nz/

Resource Management Act www.mfe.govt/laws/rma/

Standards New Zealand www.standards.co.nz


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