Articles
Container production of Rocky Mountain native plants using peat-free substrates
Article number
1467_13
Pages
103 – 110
Language
English
Abstract
Nursery production of container-grown ornamentals, including plants native to the North American Rocky Mountains, typically seeks to optimize vegetative growth through using peat-based substrates.
These differ greatly from field soils in the Rocky Mountain Region in physical and chemical composition.
The sustainability of peat as a horticultural product is of concern to green industry professionals and consumers, alike.
Plants native to the North American Rocky Mountains are adapted to lean, coarse soils that are low in organic matter and often have a high pH. While they may initially respond with a flush of vegetative growth when cultivated in containers using peat-based substrates, this is not required for their success and, furthermore, may be counter-productive to their transplanting success in the landscape.
Through cultivating native plants in containers using peat-free substrates with large particle size, we seek to produce plants with a more balanced root-to-shoot ratio to improve survival and establishment once transplanted into designed landscapes with low organic matter content and frequent drought conditions.
The plant species trialed include, Mirabilis multiflora, Ribes aureum, Geum triflorum, and Penstemon barbatus. By looking at survivability and establishment success after transplanting in addition to initial growth and visual assessments in the container production phase, we hope to encourage growers of Rocky Mountain native plants to adopt more sustainable production practices and to market these plants for their long-term benefits in the landscape.
The results of this study may facilitate improved performance of container-grown native plants in urban landscapes, alleviating an existing production bottleneck.
In turn, this would increase the genetic diversity of plants incorporated into urban landscapes through the successful establishment of underutilized landscape plants.
These differ greatly from field soils in the Rocky Mountain Region in physical and chemical composition.
The sustainability of peat as a horticultural product is of concern to green industry professionals and consumers, alike.
Plants native to the North American Rocky Mountains are adapted to lean, coarse soils that are low in organic matter and often have a high pH. While they may initially respond with a flush of vegetative growth when cultivated in containers using peat-based substrates, this is not required for their success and, furthermore, may be counter-productive to their transplanting success in the landscape.
Through cultivating native plants in containers using peat-free substrates with large particle size, we seek to produce plants with a more balanced root-to-shoot ratio to improve survival and establishment once transplanted into designed landscapes with low organic matter content and frequent drought conditions.
The plant species trialed include, Mirabilis multiflora, Ribes aureum, Geum triflorum, and Penstemon barbatus. By looking at survivability and establishment success after transplanting in addition to initial growth and visual assessments in the container production phase, we hope to encourage growers of Rocky Mountain native plants to adopt more sustainable production practices and to market these plants for their long-term benefits in the landscape.
The results of this study may facilitate improved performance of container-grown native plants in urban landscapes, alleviating an existing production bottleneck.
In turn, this would increase the genetic diversity of plants incorporated into urban landscapes through the successful establishment of underutilized landscape plants.
Authors
A.H. Zurbuchen, J.M. Bousselot
Keywords
Mirabilis multiflora, green roof, media, drought tolerance, transplanting, root architecture
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