Concept

Plug (horticulture)

Résumé
Plugs in horticulture are small-sized seedlings grown in seed trays filled with potting soil. This type of plug is used for commercially raising vegetables and bedding plants. Similarly plugs may also refer to small sections of lawn grass sod. After being planted, lawn grass may somewhat spread over an adjacent area. Plug plants are young plants raised in small, individual cells, ready to be transplanted into containers or a garden. Professionally raised vegetable/flowering plants in controlled conditions during their important formative period (the first 4–6 weeks) can help to ensure plant health and for plants to reach their maximum potential during the harvest/blooming period. Establishing a garden using plug plants is often easier than doing so starting from seed. According to the American National Standards a plug is a cylinder of medium in which a plant is grown. The term is generally used to describe seedlings and rooted cuttings which have been removed from the container but with the medium held intact by the roots. Planting from plugs reduces the time a crop resides in the ground, and is functional for those with limited space. Plugs can improve yields: a healthy, stocky plant will grow rapidly and symmetrically when planted out, with a potentially greater capacity to withstand pests, disease and drought. Raising some types of seedlings successfully can be difficult, so plug plants can be beneficial for less experienced gardeners. Plug plants are beneficial for gardeners who want to try a new variety or a range of varieties without purchasing numerous packets of seeds and starting the plants from seed. Plug plants are very useful if the sowing window is missed, and plugs can be purchased quickly to replace a crop which has failed. As a garden develops, interplanting (intercropping) existing crops with plugs plants, ideally companion plants, can improve the productivity of the space and so maximise harvests a sown crop may not be able to compete with established plants.
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