If you’re a landscaper, you may be wondering how you can increase efficiency in your planting projects.
Think of how many times you’ve secured a large planting bid, and then you’re supplied conventional nursery stock: Your workers now have to unpot all these plants, making sure that none of them are potbound.
Finally, the planting is finished. You’re already behind schedule, and you suddenly notice you have a truckload of plastic pots to deal with, blowing around in the wind.
With all this mess to clean up, and the time it’s taken to get everything inspected and planted, you have to wonder - Did you actually turn a profit in this project?
What if, instead of conventional stock, you had something different, something innovative? What if you didn’t have to remove pots? What if you didn’t have to deal with potbound, languishing plants? What if you didn’t have a mountain of pots to clean up?
We’ve made all this possible with SuperPlugs.
Read on to learn more:
Reduce Planting Time by 50%
Because the fabric breaks apart within 1 growing season, SuperPlugs can be planted directly in the ground. Unlike conventional plastic pots, SuperPlugs promote air root pruning through root entrapment and air root pruning. Also, because the fabric is made of a blend of natural fibers, it is naturally wicking - SuperPlugs will pull in moisture from the soil, and will balance moisture throughout the root mass as the plant establishes.
Since there is no need to remove a pot, inspect the roots or cut into the root ball, each plug takes only half the time to plant as conventional stock. If you are a professional landscaper or an avid gardener, this means that you can get your planting done in half the time with no leftover mess. If you could get twice the amount of plants planted in the same amount of time, you could secure even more planting contracts!
Eliminate Hidden Costs in Planting Projects
At first glance, traditional nursery stock may seem cheaper than SuperPlugs, and therefore the better way to go. But, is it really? What are the hidden costs in dealing with traditional stock?
First of all, there’s the fact that it takes a long time to deal with cutting into the rootball of traditional stock to break apart a rootbound plant. While this is vital for getting the plant to establish in the ground, it does set back the plant since it’s just incurred heavy root damage. This also opens a path for pathogens to invade, and can result in the demise of the plants.
Then, there’s the mess of pots to deal with. Do you really want a whole barnful of used plastic pots? The only alternative is to send them to the dump, which has huge environmental costs. As our society becomes more environmentally conscious, the last thing you want to be doing is contributing to our overflowing landfills.
Finally, as an effect of the first problem, you have poor establishment rates - You’ve already invested a lot of time and resource into the project, and suddenly you have to revisit the site and replace 15% of the plants you planted. The cost of the replacements comes straight out of your bottom line!
SuperPlugs cost, on average, 25% more than conventional nursery stock. However, once you factor in the hidden costs, you can save as much as 75% in the long run!
Quicker Establishment
Because of the material and the air-root pruning technology, SuperPlugs establish much more quickly than conventional stock. We use a 2-step air pruning process - Plants are started in root-pruning plugs, and then shifted to the SuperPlugs. Each of these steps results in a flush of new root growth you simply don’t get with conventional pots.
This means that SuperPlug Quarts can be planted directly in the ground, or in the case of trees and shrubs, they can be shifted to larger pots. SuperPlugs are highly valued by container growers, as they fill the pots much more quickly than conventional stock!
Because SuperPlugs are made from blended fibers, they wick moisture very efficiently. Unlike coir or peat pots, which tend to dry out severely, SuperPots help to draw moisture from the soil, and balance it evenly around the plant. In this way, roots penetrate very quickly once the plugs are in the ground, helping the plant to establish in half the time of conventional containerized stock.
Less Soil, More Root Tips
Even though SuperPlugs have only about half the soil of a traditional #1 Perennial Container, the plants themselves have 10 times the amount of root tips due to root pruning.
Any time a root tip stops growing due to air dessication or entrapment, it prompts a flush of secondary rooting along that root. Then, those roots hit the same wall, and branch again - Pretty soon, you’ve got 100 times the amount of root tips compared to a seed that started in the ground!
Plants take up water and nutrients through the root tips. More root tips means more nutrient uptake, resulting in much faster growth. The roots also grow more quickly after they’re planted, since they don’t circle the pot or grow straight down - This results in a well-anchored, fast growing plant that doesn’t encounter any transplant shock!
Stronger Roots From the Start
In conventional stock, you have two choices at planting time: Either plant the soil ball as is, or cut through the roots to eliminate the circling.
Any time you slice through roots, you’re setting back the plant; however, if you don’t do this to conventional stock, the plant isn’t going to live very long. This is especially true with trees and shrubs - As they grow larger, those original roots don’t disappear. This ends up causing root girdling on the base of the tree or shrub, which results in death of the plant.
SuperPlug roots are well-balanced laterally, and don’t circe the container - Once these are planted, the roots break right through the side of the pots and begin growing in earnest into the soil. Because the roots weren’t sliced through in 4 places, the plant doesn’t go into shock!
Traditional nursery and landscaping advice was, “The first year they sleep, the second year they creep, the third year they leap.”
What if you could jump straight to "leap" the first year? What if you didn't have to replace 15% of the stock you planted?
The choice becomes clear. SuperPlugs are truly the superior way to go for nursery stock.