Deep roots mean fast establishment and easier handling

When transplanting liners, the quicker they establish the better.

Whether in the field or containers, the faster they can put new roots down, the better off they’re going to be in the long run.

Zelenka Nursery, a member of Berry Family of Nurseries, sells woody and perennial plants to retail and landscape customers in 42 states. The company produces hundreds of thousands of shrub liners to transplant into 1- and 3-gallon containers, or directly into the field.

For both these applications, the company has discovered that liners produced in Summit Plastic Root Tutor containers transplant very well.

“They’re a really deep cell, and we really like the size of the shape of the root column you get,” said Paul Zelenka, purchasing and production planning manager.

The company lines out field-grown shrubs with mechanical transplanters, and the liners grown in Root Tutors work well with the company’s machinery.

“They go down the chute really nicely,” Zelenka said. “If you don’t have that long column of roots, it’s really hard to get them planted straight. Plus we have sandy soil. If we planted liners with just 3 inches of roots, you might have an inch that was above the ground. That gives you just two inches planted, and that’s going to dry out really quickly.”

The Root Tutors also contain channels that help direct roots downward. Zelenka said he thinks plants grown in these pots and transplanted directly into the landscape would also establish quickly. One application could be small liners of native plants grown for remediation projects.

For more: Zelenka Nursery, (800)253-3743; www.zelenkanursery.com.