OSC Activity D.5

The production of high quality transplants is hereby defined as a healthy, uniform and easy to handle batch of plants that will suffer from minimal transplant shock, will establish quickly in their new production environment and be highly productive. The objective of this project is to develop methods to consistently deliver high quality organic transplants. Specific objectives include to:

1. Determine the appropriate organic growing media and water content for high quality peat blocks seedlings;
2. Determine the appropriate organic wetting agent for high quality peat blocks seedlings;
3. Develop an appropriate fertilization management for high quality seedlings grown in peat blocks;
4. Study the effect of plant growth stimulators and biological control agents  on seedling quality and disease tolerance;
5. Evaluate the handling quality of peat block seedlings;
6. Evaluate transplanting shock, plant growth after plantation, early and total harvesting of peat blocks seedlings;
7. Establish methods to quickly detect, locate and trace seedling growth, stress level and performance during the transplant preparation phase;
8. Establish data collection and meta-analysis procedures to identify environmental and other factors explaining successful or non-successful treatment effects.

• Organic potting soil considerations
  • OACC News Article. 2011
    
• Perfecting the Potting Mix [PDF - 326 kB]
  • The Canadian Organic Grower. 2012
• Remote Sensing of Nitrogen and Water Status on Boston Lettuce Transplants in a Greenhouse Environment [PDF - 30 kB]
  • Canadian Organic Science Conference. 2012
    

• Influence of cell volume in multicell transplant flats on the growth of organically grown seedlings of medicinal plants
  • Journal of Herbs, Spices and Medicinal Plants (1996) 4: 47-55
• Multifaceted beneficial effects of rhizosphere microorganisms on plant health and productivity
  • Soil Biology & Biochemistry (2008) 40: 1733-1740
• Optimization of substrate and nutrient solution for organic cultivation of medicinal transplants in multicell flats
  • Journal of Herbs, Spices and Medicinal Plants (1997) 4: 69-82
• Organic fertilizers for greenhouse tomatoes: productivity and substrate microbiology
  • HortScience (2009) 44: 800-809
• Potential replacements for rockwool as growing substrate for greenhouse tomato
  • Canadian Journal of Soil Science (2005) 85: 67-74
• Recent Advances in Soil-Borne Disease Control Using Suppressive Media
  • Acta Horticulturae (2009) 819: 125-134
• Risk of phytotoxicity of sawdust substrates for greenhouse vegetables
  • Acta Horticulturae (2007) 761: 589-595
• Supressiveness of 18 composts against 7 pathosystems: Variability in pathogen response
  • Soil Biology & Biochemistry (2006) 38: 2461-2477

• Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
• Les Serres Lefort, Inc.