Stages 3 & 4: Building, bulking, toning and pinching
Stage 3: The building and bulking stage So now that Stage 2 is complete and the roots have started to elongate and hit the edge of the cell, we’ve entered Stage 3 of vegetative propagation and the first part of finishing your liner. We like to call this the Building and Bulking Stage, and these are the primary focal points: 1. Changing the environment 2. Building the root mass and bulking the top 3. Fertility 4. Pinching 5. PGRs and controlled growth Changing the environment – to move or not to move Once your cuttings have started pushing roots out and the mist is off, we can start to call them liners. Now that they’re liners, they no longer belong in your propagation house environment. To give your liners the best conditions for quality growth, you must either move them out of your propagation house or leave them there and change the environment. Either way, a change in environment is the best management practice for this stage. So what’s the ideal environment? We want to push moisture through the plant but have temperatures that promote controlled growth while providing the highest light levels the plant will accept. All of the factors that stimulate quality,
controlled growth should be considered, including reduced humidity and temperatures, increased air movement and high light levels. These conditions aren’t always easy to create in the late Winter months, but we must do the best we can with the resources we have. Liners grown too dark, too warm, too humid, etc., won’t present you with the best opportunity for a successful finished crop. Conversely, liners grown too cold will likely not be ready for their target plant date. Balance the environment for the highest quality growth while keeping in mind your crop time. All of the other focal points of this stage will be directly linked to this topic, and that makes it the single biggest key for successfully finishing a good liner. Building and Bulking In Stage 3, we must be sure we’re getting our liner ready for transplanting into the finished container. This stage starts with a small plant that’s pushing out roots and ends with a transplantable liner that meets your specifications, so be sure to have a target or an expectation in mind as to what your finished liner will look like. In the building part of this phase, we like to focus on building the root mass so we can have a strong start after transplanting our liner. As we all know, it’s important to have a well-defined root system so the liners are easy for your transplant crews to handle and
so they quickly take off in their new soil. Soil moisture management is key in the building of root mass , so take great care in maintaining good wet/dry cycles and avoid saturated soil for more than a day. Also, avoid hard dry-downs or wilting your liners, as this can damage and reduce root mass or slow take-off after transplant. The soil moisture management goal should be to stay in the “middle of the road” and ideally to alternate between Level 2 and Level 4 soil moisture. The environment will play a key role in your ability to achieve the ideal soil moisture and overall root mass development. An “active” environment with lower humidity, higher light levels, increased air movement and appropriate temps for plant growth is the goal. The bulking part of this phase is about the green part of the liner. We need to bulk up our plant in order to meet our specifications of what the liner should look like at time of transplanting. Leaves should be unfolding and breaks emerging in this stage as you build the structure of the liner that you want. Again, the environment will play a key role, so be sure to match up temperatures that will keep the liner moving and developing but won’t promote soft growth or poor quality. High light and cool temperatures have repeatedly been shown to produce the best plants, so, when possible, match those two factors with the proper amount of plant
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