Session 2: Growing Media and Nursery Bed Preparation
Unit 2: Nursery Management
Textual Question-Answers
Check Your Progress
Fill in the Blanks
1. In water scarcity or shortages, —————— bed helps toconserve moisture.
Ans: sunken
2. Level beds are commonly known as ———————
Ans: flat beds
3. In raised bed preparation, the soil is raised upto a height of —————— cm.
Ans: 15
4. Seed treatment prevents —————— and ——————infections.
Ans: fungal and bacterial
5. Ideal soil types as growing media are —————— and ———— —
Ans: sandy and loamy
6. Clayey soil is not a desirable medium due to ————— and —————
Ans: poor drainage and poor aeration
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Micro-nutrients can be applied through —————————
(a) deep placement
(b) top dressing
(c) foliar feeding
(d) basal dressing
Ans: (c) foliar feeding
2. The usual size of sand is from —————
(a) 2.0 to 2.5 mm
(b) 0.05 to 2.0 mm
(c) 2.5 to 3.0 mm
(d) 3.0 to 3.5 mm
Ans: (b) 0.05 to 2.0 mm
3. Dilution of formalin applied for the sterilisation of soil in thenursery is —————
(a) 0.25%
(b) 2.50%
(c) 25.0%
(d) 0.025%
Ans: (a) 0.25%
4. ——————, a biological agent, is effective against soil-bornefungi.
(a) Fusarium spp.
(b) Trichoderma spp.
(c) Sclerotinia spp.
(d) Trichogramma spp.
Ans: (b) Trichoderma spp.
Subjective Questions
1. What is a growing medium? List its types.
Ans: A growing medium is a material in which plants are grown to providesupport, water, nutrients and aeration to roots. Its types include soil, sand, compost, peat, vermiculite, perlite and cocopeat.
2. Why do you think nursery beds are required?
Ans: Nursery beds are required to raise healthy seedlings under controlledconditions, ensure uniform germination, easy management and better survival of plants after transplanting.
3. Describe the different methods of fertiliser application in a nursery.
Ans: Fertiliser can be applied in a nursery through basal application, topdressing, foliar feeding and soil application. Foliar feeding is commonly usedfor supplying micro-nutrients quickly to plants.
4. What is soil solarisation?
Ans: Soil solarisation is a method of sterilising soil by covering moist soil with transparent polythene sheets and exposing it to sunlight to control soilborne pests, diseases and weeds.
Match the Columns
A
1. Organic matter
2. Micro-nutrient
3. Good water-holding capacity
4. Residue from marsh swamp
5. Hydrated magnesium aluminium
6. Volcanic origin
7. Control of soil-borne pests
B
(a) Sphagnum moss
(b) Compost
(c) Peat
(d) Fe, Mn, Zn
(e) Soil solarisation
(f) Vermiculite
(g) Perlite
Ans:
1 – (b) Compost
2 – (d) Fe, Mn, Zn
3 – (a) Sphagnum moss
4 – (c) Peat
5 – (f) Vermiculite
6 – (g) Perlite
7 – (e) Soil solarisation
