The Echinacea season has started. So how to prepare for rooting? In this article, Hartwig Bull explains and shows how they are doing it. Hartwig is not only head of breeding at Bull Plant Genetics (BPG), he is also growing finished products.
The following steps should be taken care of, he explains:
- clean and disinfect your propagation area
- choose for the right propagation tray
- 50 to 84 are possible
- Hartwig is using a 60 cell tray
- use a propagation media with 15 – 20% Perlite
- water before transplanting
- prepare a hole for the plug
Hartwig Bull is using TC from two different labs. "One is producing in a common way in TC cups and you have to prig out the plants. More efficient is to use TC plugs out of a TC tray with 81 plugs (9×9)."
Regular TC cup, and TC 81 cell tray
According to Bull, the 81 TC cell tray has a lot of benefits ."First, it is good for mechanization with the TTA transplanter (click here for more info about the TTA) and second, it is good for manual hand transplanting as it is much faster, with fewer losses during the transplating, no root damage, and more uniformity in growing."
Special for this tray, they have designed at BPG a plug tray pusher made out of regular dowels.
See in the video below how it works
Once the plants are lifted up it is easy to pick’em up and transplant them into the tray.
"After the transplanting process, you cover your transplanted Echinacea with white (milky) foil. The best is using tunnel construction. You also can use a fog system."
If the preparation for Echinacea rooting is done properly you will achieve the best results, he explains.
"Start with a uniform liner and get a uniform crop", he concludes.
More details you find in the CultivationGuide
For more information:
BULL Plant Genetics
Gärtnersiedlung 2, 24610 Gönnebek
Germany
Sven Magnussen
+49-171990 52 35
Email: sven.magnussen@bullpg.com
Kathy McKay
+1 360.202.5333
kathy.mckay@bullpg.com