The Stoller philosophy is all about ‘Unleashing the power of plants’.
At the commencement of its life, every plant carries a certain genetic potential. Often by the end of the season, some of that potential has been lost—the aim is to limit the loss as much as possible.
With trees there are some key things to consider when establishing or replanting an orchard.
Are all manageable limiting factors removed?
A young plant will quickly find the most limiting factor. It could be lack of a specific nutrient, a soil imbalance such as high sodium, or an irrigation issue limiting the availability of soil moisture.
Elements such as zinc and the balance between zinc and phosphorus can be critical for early growth.
Are all stress factors identified and controlled?
If young trees are exposed to adverse environmental factors, then steps can be taken.
For example, if trees are to be planted in windy conditions, this can be anticipated by staking the trees or building/growing wind blocks.
Stoller offers a fertigation treatment called RootFeed which is a balanced nitrogen–calcium combination with cofactors designed to quickly build root mass and improve anchoring of young trees.
Is the transition from nursery to orchard managed?
Fast even establishment leads to an orchard with balanced growth.
This has many benefits later on, so that trees are at a matching growth stage and can be treated the same as they progress with minimum need for replant or efforts to balance up the trees later.
Also, young trees that have healthy root and top growth early, tend to ‘grow through’ many issues that a slow growing tree is particularly susceptible to (such as root disease, salt concentration and heat and cold extremes).
Stoller programs start in the nursery with a range of specialised products designed to enhance root growth and minimise the stress associated with replanting into a field environment.
Our goal
These are just a few items related to nutrition and stress where there are some simple steps to make the transition from nursery to orchard establishment smoother and less stressful on the plant.
There are a range of other management and commercial considerations also required (such as variety selection, site selection, soil preparation).
Stoller’s goal is to assist mainly with nutritional balance and minimising the impact of stress. This allows the genetic expression of the new trees.
Stoller can offer tailored programs to address specific cases.
For more information, see Tree Fruit June 2014
