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This publication for nursery managers and homeowners describes how to protect nursery plants and keep them healthy through the winter.
Every nurseryman should know how to prune trees and the reason for the various pruning practices. Many landscape problems can be avoided if correct pruning is performed, while the tree is growing in the nursery. Incorrect pruning practices or lack of pruning diminish the quality of the plant material.
Every nursery needs to have someone who routinely checks Electrical Conductivity (EC) also called soluble salts, and pH of container crops, potting inventories and irrigation water. Checking EC and pH should be considered part of the quality control and scouting program in the nursery. Results from testing 3 to 5 containers in a irrigation zone each week can be used to schedule irrigation the following week. Comparing leachate solution collected from containers to water collected from irrigation nozzles provides a good insight into nutrient levels in the containers. Checking EC and pH of nursery crops grown in containers doesn't have to be time consuming, complicated or difficult. The intention of this article is to review the procedure and update growers on the Virginia Tech Extraction Method (VTEM), also called the PourThru extraction procedure.