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| PROPAGATION SYSTEMS |
 The Micro-Propagation Process: In any horticultural or plant production business, the supply of good quality (disease free, true-to-type and high yielding) plant material is of essence. The ultimate way to produce such plant material is through the micro-propagation process. This process can be adapted to every plant to optimise the propagation rate, as most variables can be controlled. This ensures that large quantities of quality plant material can be produced from selected mother plants.
Plants are propagated in a germ-free environment (cleanroom) by taking micro-cuttings from a virus and disease free mother plant using sterile technique and placing it on a pre-sterilised, defined, optimally nutritious growing medium in a culture flask. These flasks containing the micro-cuttings are then placed in a growing room which is climate controlled, where it develops into a miniature plantlet. In a few weeks the plantlets will have grown sufficiently for micro-cuttings to be taken again and then transferred to new medium. Each plantlet can produce three to eight cuttings, depending on species. The whole cycle can be repeated until enough plantlets are produced. The increase in plant material is thus exponential and cycles are typically one to three months.
When enough plantlets have been obtained, they are transferred to a rooting medium for the last stage. These rooted plantlets are then planted out into clean growing medium (such as coir fibre or a bark based growing mix), for further growth and establishment in the greenhouse.
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 The plants coming from the micro-propagation area now have to adapt to the harsher, outside environment. They are carefully weaned or hardened-off in the greenhouse until they are strong and ready to be sold as established plants to the wholesale grower for normal growing-on. A strict hygienic program is adhered to and the growing environment carefully monitored to ensure that these plantlets grow into strong and healthy plants, providing a good start for the grower.
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For growers that require bigger plants, or as for our Zantedeschias flowering size tubers, we grow our young plants on in our shadehouse. We also use this space to test our plants and flowers. On a smaller scale we also utilise conventional propagation systems, such as cuttings, division and seed when required in either our greenhouse or shadehouses.
We also produce some plants in the open field under irrigation. This serves as a long term testing site for plants and flower production under these conditions to enable us to eventually give our clients sound advice for all types of conditions.
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