For vigorous and fast-rooting crops, we need to be prepared to tone the crop well before we’ve moved it out of the propagation zone or changed its environment. We often talk about stacking nodes on certain crops, especially those that we want to pinch, and this is the stage when those stems often stretch and they’re “unstacked.” Some crops will even stretch before they’ve started to root and could need a PGR treatment right at the beginning of Stage 2. Others could need it at the end of this stage, and many won’t need any PGRs until the third stage of liner production. Utilize growth regulators with lower activity like daminozide and chlormequat whenever possible. Be sure
to know the vigor of the crops you’re producing so you can stay ahead of the growth and maintain a toned liner coming out of Stage 2. Pest and Disease Control In Stage 2, the primary pest concerns will be fungus gnats and shoreflies. Sticky cards and population monitoring should be a big part of your weekly routine, and good algae control and sanitation will help with controlling populations as well. There are quite a few good biological options for controlling fungus gnats and several effective insect growth regulators that will control the larvae in the soil. continued on p.14
Liner at end of Stage 2
No fertilizer
Feed (14-4-14, 150 ppm with 1.5 g·100 gal STEM) at stick and following
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