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Booklet - Nursery Production The GAIA-Movement Booklet 19
Booklet - Nursery Production 1

water can or sprinkler made

from a plastic container or tin
out the pots which contain
seedlings from the empty pots Nursery Production
with small holes in it. where seeds did not germinate
DoManual
not put -too
Fire
much water as or where transplanted What you should know about
it can cause fungal diseases. seedlings died. Re-sow or plant producing tree seedlings in a nursery
Weeding in these pots.
Keep the polythene pots or Root pruning
seedbeds free from weeds at Eliminate small roots
all times. protruding from the poly pots
Transplanting by simply lifting the pots and
Seedlings can be transplanted breaking the roots by turning
from seed beds, when they are the poly pot around or by
3 to 5 cm tall. Transplant them cutting the roots with a knife.
to poly pots or to another Without pruning, the roots will
seedbed for bare root planting grow under the poly pots
(distance 5 cm x 5 cm). Water which can cause difficulties
the seedlings and water the during transplanting, as roots
pots. Lift the seedling and make may be damaged or break.
sure that the root will not be Before and after root pruning
disturbed. Make a planting hole the seedlings must be well
with a finger or a stick. Make irrigated.
sure the hole is bigger than the Give full
root. Press the soil firmly shade to the
around the plant. Irrigate again seedlings for INTRODUCTION
and give full shade to the 2 to 3 days.
seedlings for 3 days.Always sort Where tree seedlings are 2. Produce the seedlings in a
produced use the following nursery using seedbeds
This manual was elaborated by: THE
methods: 3. Produce the seedlings from
GAIA-MOVEMENT
1. Produce the seedlings in a sowing the seeds on the
Development Aid from People to tree nursery in polythene site, where the trees are
People (DAPP), TRUST
pots wanted
Child Aid & Environment , LIVING EARTH
EARTH
Southern Province, Zambia. GREEN WORLD ACTION
2 Booklet - Nursery Production
4. Find wildings (small
seedlings under mature
trees in the nature) and
Manual - Fire
plant them
5. Plant cuttings
GROWING SEED-
LINGS
Site selection
A nursery should be located
near a water source, on flat
land. It should also have wind
breakers, some shade trees and
not be waterlogged.
Fencing
The nursery must be fenced in
order to protect the tree
seedlings from animals and
chicken. Use grass and poles,
thorny bushes or plant live
fences at the start of the rainy
season.
Nursery Beds
Make the beds 1 m wide with
60 cm between each bed. as
walkways.A bed 1 m x 5 m can
accommodate from 500 to
1000 seedlings.
So for 5000 seedlings 10m x
10m will be sufficient.
Type of soil to use
The polythene pots or the seed
beds can be filled with good top
soil.The best soil is found under
big trees (musangu or acacias)
or near dams/rivers. If the soil
has a lot of clay (easy to form a
ball when wet), you should mix
the soil with sand. If the soil is
not very fertile you should mix
it with manure. Never mix
more than one part of manure
to 10 parts of soil, because the
manure can burn the tree
seedlings.
How to fill the polythene
pots with soil
The bottom layer must be
pressed hard, the middle layer
should be slightly pressed and
the top layer quite loose. The
soil is pressed hard at the
bottom in order for the soil not
to fall out during trans-
portation. If you have no
polythene pots you can use any
available container, such as tins
or milk cartons. Remember to
perforate the bottom area so
that excess water can run out.
Booklet
Booklet- -Nursery
NurseryProduction
Sowing the seeds
Cover the seeds with soil twice
the size of the actual seed.This
means the bigger the seeds are,
the more soil will be needed
for covering. Sow seeds directly
in the poly pots and in seed
beds. Best to sow at least 3
seeds per pot. Seeds can also
be sown in seed beds for later
transplanting to poly pots, or
even directly to the field.
Shading
The seedbed or polythene pots
should be covered with a thin
layer of grass after sowing to
protect against the sun and
heavy rain storms. Too thick a
layer of grass is bad for
germination. When the
seedlings have germinated you
should build a shade at a height
of around 60 cm above the
seedlings.
Seed collection
Many seeds can be collected
locally from existing trees. It is
best to collect seeds from good
and healthy trees. Seeds from
any ripe fruit that you have
bought or collected can be
Production 3
washed, and afterwards be
sown fresh or dried in the
shade.
Seed treatment
It is important that the seeds
are treated correctly before
sowing or it will take a long
time to germinate, and
germination will be very poor.
There are
basically
two diffe-
rent treat-
ments:
Cold water treatment:
Leave the seeds in cold water
overnight before sowing. This
applies to most fruit tree seeds
and some other soft seeds.
Hot water treatment:
Boil water (the volume of the
water must be twice the
volume of the seeds. Soak the
seeds into the hot water and
leave them to soak over night.
Watering
While the seeds are
germinating and the seedlings
are small, they must be watered
every day. Afterwards every
other day is sufficient. Use a