Liners

Last updated
Liners being grown in a greenhouse. Greenhouse 1.JPG
Liners being grown in a greenhouse.

"Liners" is a horticultural term referring to very young plants, usually grown for sale to retailers or wholesalers, who then grow them to a larger size before selling them to consumers. Liners are usually grown from seed, but may also be grown from cuttings or tissue culture. They are grown in plastic trays with many "cells," each of which contains a single liner plant. Liners will typically range in size from a 36 cell tray up to a 288 cell tray. The most common size used in commercial nurseries is between 50 and 72 cells. The term "liner", is typically used for perennial, ornamental, and woody seedlings. Annuals in this form are usually referred to as plugs. [1]

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, plants can only be defined as "liners" if they are at least an inch in diameter but not more than 3 inches in diameter at the widest point. Plant liners must also have established root systems that touch the outer edges of the container and stay intact when lifted from the container. [2]

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Plant Materials Manual defines "liner" as plant material which is grown in one location and then “lined-out” in another location for finishing off. Plants may be started in seedbeds and lifted bare-root or grown in containers. Either type of these liners may finish their production cycle in the ground or in containers. [3]

A liner traditionally refers to lining out nursery stock in a field row. The term has evolved to mean a small plant produced from a rooted cutting, seedling, plug, or tissue culture plantlet. Direct sticking or direct rooting into smaller liner pots is commonly done in United States propagation nurseries. Seedlings and rooted cuttings can also be transplanted into small liner pots and allowed to become established during liner production, before being transplanted to larger containers (upcanned) or outplanted into the field. [4]

Related Research Articles

Bonsai Japanese miniature trees

Bonsai is the Japanese art of growing and training miniature trees in pots, developed from the traditional Chinese art form of penjing. Unlike penjing, which utilizes traditional techniques to produce entirely natural scenery in small pots that mimic the grandiose shapes of real life scenery, the Japanese "bonsai" only attempts to produce small trees that mimic the shape of real life trees. Similar versions of the art exist in other cultures, including the miniature living landscapes of Vietnamese Hòn non bộ. It was during the Tang dynasty, when penjing was at its height, that the art was first introduced in Japan.

Vegetative reproduction Asexual method of reproduction in plants

Vegetative reproduction is any form of asexual reproduction occurring in plants in which a new plant grows from a fragment or cutting of the parent plant or specialized reproductive structures, which are sometimes called vegetative propagules.

Plant nursery Facility where plants are propagated and grown to usable size

A nursery is a place where plants are propagated and grown to a desired size. Mostly the plants concerned are for gardening, forestry or conservation biology, rather than agriculture. They include retail nurseries, which sell to the general public, wholesale nurseries, which sell only to businesses such as other nurseries and to commercial gardeners, and private nurseries, which supply the needs of institutions or private estates. Some will also work in plant breeding.

Plug (horticulture)

Plugs in horticulture are small-sized seedlings grown in seed trays filled with potting soil. This type of plug is used for commercially raising vegetables and bedding plants. Similarly plugs may also refer to small sections of lawn grass sod. After being planted, lawn grass may somewhat spread over an adjacent area.

Aeroponics Mist-based plant growing process

Aeroponics is the process of growing plants in an air or mist environment without the use of soil or an aggregate medium. The word "aeroponic" is derived from the Greek meanings of aer and ponos. Aeroponic culture differs from both conventional hydroponics, aquaponics, and in-vitro growing. Unlike hydroponics, which uses a liquid nutrient solution as a growing medium and essential minerals to sustain plant growth, or aquaponics, which uses water and fish waste, aeroponics is conducted without a growing medium. It is sometimes considered a type of hydroponics, since water is used in aeroponics to transmit nutrients.

Transplanting

In agriculture and gardening, transplanting or replanting is the technique of moving a plant from one location to another. Most often this takes the form of starting a plant from seed in optimal conditions, such as in a greenhouse or protected nursery bed, then replanting it in another, usually outdoor, growing location. This is common in market gardening and truck farming, where setting out or planting out are synonymous with transplanting. In the horticulture of some ornamental plants, transplants are used infrequently and carefully because they carry with them a significant risk of killing the plant.

Layering Plant propagation technique

Layering has evolved as a common means of vegetative propagation of numerous species in natural environments. Layering is also utilized by horticulturists to propagate desirable plants.

Red cabbage Cabbage cultivar

The red cabbage is a kind of cabbage, also known as Blaukraut after preparation. Its leaves are colored dark red/purple. However, the plant changes its color according to the pH value of the soil, due to a pigment belonging to anthocyanins. In acidic soils, the leaves grow more reddish, in neutral soils they will grow more purple, while an alkaline soil will produce rather greenish-yellow coloured cabbages. This explains the fact that the same plant is known by different colours in various regions. It can be found in all Europe, throughout the Americas, in China and especially in Africa.

Cutting (plant) Method of propagating plants

A plant cutting is a piece of a plant that is used in horticulture for vegetative (asexual) propagation. A piece of the stem or root of the source plant is placed in a suitable medium such as moist soil. If the conditions are suitable, the plant piece will begin to grow as a new plant independent of the parent, a process known as striking. A stem cutting produces new roots, and a root cutting produces new stems. Some plants can be grown from leaf pieces, called leaf cuttings, which produce both stems and roots. The scions used in grafting are also called cuttings.

Container garden Practice of growing plants exclusively in containers

Container gardening or pot gardening/farming is the practice of growing plants, including edible plants, exclusively in containers instead of planting them in the ground. A container in gardening is a small, enclosed and usually portable object used for displaying live flowers or plants. It may take the form of a pot, box, tub, basket, tin, barrel or hanging basket.

Rice transplanter

A rice transplanter is a specialized transplanter fitted to transplant rice seedlings onto paddy field. Mainly two types of rice transplanter i.e., riding type and walking type. Riding type is power driven and can usually transplant six lines in one pass. On the other hand, walking type is manually driven and can usually transplant four lines in one pass.

Microgreen Vegetable greens harvested shortly after sprouting

Microgreens are vegetable greens harvested just after the cotyledon leaves have developed with one set of true leaves. They are used as a nutrition supplement, a visual enhancement, and a flavor and texture enhancement. Microgreens are used to add sweetness and spiciness to foods. Microgreens are smaller than “baby greens” because they are harvested very soon after sprouting, rather than after the plant has matured to produce multiple leaves. Among upscale grocers, they are now considered a specialty genre of greens, good for garnishing salads, soups, sandwiches, and plates. They can be used as a main vegetable as well in certain recipes for added flavor and nutrition. Many recipes use them as a garnish while some utilize them as the main ingredient. For example, garlic pea shoots, pea shoots or micro cabbage in cabbage soup, or coleslaw made with radish microgreen instead of cabbage. As microgreens become more popular for their strong flavor and nutrition, chefs and cooks create new ways to use them.

Flowerpot Container in pottery or plastic in which flowers and plants are held

A flowerpot, planter, planterette or plant pot, is a container in which flowers and other plants are cultivated and displayed. Historically, and still to a significant extent today, they are made from plain terracotta with no ceramic glaze, with a round shape, tapering inwards. Flowerpots are now often also made from plastic, metal, wood, stone, or sometimes biodegradable material. An example of biodegradable pots are ones made of heavy brown paper, cardboard, or peat moss in which young plants for transplanting are grown.

Tubestock is the plural term for young plants which have been grown to the point where they are ready for either planting out in the field or potting on to larger pot sizes. Smaller, shallower pots are usually used to grow Tubestock in for the purpose of them being potted on to larger sizes. Larger, deeper pots are generally preferred for planting out in the field, as in the case of Revegetation and Landscaping. The term tubestock generally refers to seedlings grown in individual pots as opposed to smaller seedlings grown in cell-trays containing from 100 to 500 plants, which are referred to as "Plugs".

Rhododendron album is a species of plant in the family Ericaceae. It is endemic to Java in Indonesia. It is a vulnerable species threatened by habitat loss.

Grafting Horticultural technique of joining plant tissues to grow together

Grafting or graftage is a horticultural technique whereby tissues of plants are joined so as to continue their growth together. The upper part of the combined plant is called the scion while the lower part is called the rootstock. The success of this joining requires that the vascular tissues grow together and such joining is called inosculation. The technique is most commonly used in asexual propagation of commercially grown plants for the horticultural and agricultural trades.

Plant tissue culture is a collection of techniques used to maintain or grow plant cells, tissues or organs under sterile conditions on a nutrient culture medium of known composition. It is widely used to produce clones of a plant in a method known as micropropagation. Different techniques in plant tissue culture may offer certain advantages over traditional methods of propagation, including:

Root trainer Aid to the cultivation of young plants and trees

Many pot designs train the roots. One example is a truncated plastic cone in which a seedling is planted. There is a drainage hole at the bottom and the main tap root tends to grow towards this.

Bonsai cultivation and care

Bonsai cultivation and care involves the long-term cultivation of small trees in containers, called bonsai in the Japanese tradition of this art form. Similar practices exist in other Japanese art forms and in other cultures, including saikei (Japanese), penjing (Chinese), and hòn non bộ (Vietnamese). Trees are difficult to cultivate in containers, which restrict root growth, nutrition uptake, and resources for transpiration. In addition to the root constraints of containers, bonsai trunks, branches, and foliage are extensively shaped and manipulated to meet aesthetic goals. Specialized tools and techniques are used to protect the health and vigor of the subject tree. Over time, the artistic manipulation of small trees in containers has led to a number of cultivation and care approaches that successfully meet the practical and the artistic requirements of bonsai and similar traditions.

Propagation of Christmas trees

The Propagation of Christmas trees is the series of procedures carried out to grow new Christmas trees.

References

  1. "Definition of liner plants".
  2. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2017-05-06. Retrieved 2007-04-03.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. https://directives.sc.egov.usda.gov/RollupViewer.aspx?hid=27215
  4. https://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/faculty/davies/pdf%20stuff/ph%20final%20galley/Chap%203-%20M03_DAVI4493_08_SE_C03.pdf [ bare URL PDF ]