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  G&G's 25-gallon pot-in-pot trees finish after two years in the ground. | |||||
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Few REIs for C&G Mastering dogwoods More pictures | |||||
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By Todd Davis While signs show that the economy is slowing, most nursery growers see no reduction in orders. Landscapers and rewholesalers are still gobbling up tree and shrub inventory as fast as it's available. In times like these, growers are looking for ways to speed up the production process. The managers at G&G Nursery Inc. in Lesage, W.Va., found that pot-in-pot production was a good way to increase turns in their fields. Not only that, pot-in-pot extends the sales season since trees no longer have to be harvested during dormant periods. G&G Nursery has been known for quality nursery stock since it began in 1985. Founder Glen Merritt and his sons Don and Brett have become accustomed to growing shade and flowering trees in the sandy loam soils along the Ohio River. In 1997, G&G became one of the country's forerunners in pot-in-pot production by sinking 4,000 7- 15- and 15-gallon socket pots into the ground. "The only main thing we don't do pot-in-pot now is dogwoods. They don't like to stay in containers long and do much better growing in sandy soils.," Don said. "Other than that, we do everything from cherries to crabs to shade trees -- a good mix." With pot-in-pot production, fertilizer and water are applied directly to plants' roots via drip irrigation, which increases growth rates. Using this method, the Merritts can finish 7- and 15-gallon trees in one year and 25-gallon trees in two. "The growth rate is unbelievable compared to field production," Don said. "We now have about 13,000 units in pot-in-pot production. We have fewer 25-gallon sockets than we'd like to so the bulk of any expansion we do would be with larger containers." A sloping area behind the company's office is already targeted for expansion in the next few years. Within the next five to six years, the company could easily increase pot-in-pot production by 10,000, Don said. Perfect soils The company's sandy soils that are so good for crabapple and dogwood production also turned out to be advantageous for pot-in-pot production. "The biggest key was that we have such good drainage. Some nurseries have to resort to putting in drain tiles or ditches, but we're located at the river bottom so we have naturally good drainage," Don said. "We did try to pick locations for pot-in-pot that had gradual slopes and occasionally we find an area with bad soils. When that happens we either dig out the area so that it will drain better or we just move production somewhere else." Liners are potted into containers in late January and early February. The company prefers to place them into their socket pots immediately after potting, but sometimes delays occur. The 7- and 15-gallon trees will sell next spring, primarily in March, April and May and the 25-gallon trees will sell the following year. For 15-gallon trees, G&G prefers to sell them with 1 1/2- to 1 3/4-inch calipers. However, because of nationwide plant shortages, most are going out undersized. "Frankly, we're just selling them earlier than we'd like to. We'd like to give them another couple months, but our customers beg for them so we let them go," Don said. "We don't discount the price so we're not losing anything financially." Considering automation The physically hardest part of pot-in-pot production is potting and getting the containers out to the field. It's tough labor, especially with 25-gallon containers. Soil is shaken from a Bobcat skid-steer bucket into containers while employees keep liners upright and at the right planting depth. The bucket will hold enough soil for about eight 15-gallon buckets and about four 25-gallon buckets. The Merritts have seen some fancy assembly-line potting systems at other nurseries and are considering automating G&G's processes, but they have no immediate plans. A potting machine could be in the company's future, but not for a while. The company is having difficulty finding a machine that would accommodate 7- to 25-gallon containers. Once potted, the trees are loaded onto trailers and taken to the fields. The field's rows are designed so that employees can unload trees directly into the socket pots on both sides of the trailer. "That does make the job a little easier. When you unload, you just drop the tree right into the ground so it's less physical work," Don said. Socket pots can sit empty from spring to winter and in some cases debris buildup can be a problem. "We know some people that put empty pots in the sockets when they know they have to sit empty for a while. We go through and manually clean them out just before new trees are put in them," Don said. The primary problem is leaves, not so much from trees in production but from neighboring forested areas. New ideas Technology has reduced some labor involved with pot-in-pot. In 1997, employees had to spray containers with copper to prevent root circling and escape. Now, containers pretreated with Spin Out are available. The company also places Spin Out-treated fabric squares custom designed to fit all three container sizes in the bottoms of the socket pots. This prevents roots from leaving the growing container and escaping into the soil. The nursery's office paperwork has also been reduced with new Doane computer software. "We used it a little last spring, but really started using it in the fall [2000]," Don said. "We use it primarily for sales and shipping information. It has an accounting package but we haven't used that yet. But is has improved our inventory tracking and reduced the amount of time we spend doing administrative work." No liner substitutes One key to producing quality pot-in-pot trees quickly is starting with good liners. With the exception of budding some of its own pears, G&G buys liner stock from other sources. The company has no problem spending more to make sure it gets the best liners available.
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