Is growing my own liners better than buying them?

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I attended the 2024 Plug Connect conference and one of the sessions had a panel to discuss whether a grower should propagate or not their own liners. The 4 experts in the panel (Chris Rocheleau, Don Spence, Chris Fifo, and Nathan Sell) offered many insights about the topic and the full discussion was really interesting but, the one question that for me, stood out from the rest was…What are the 3 must have’s if I decide to grow my own liners?

Responses ranged from having the passion to grow, to the challenges of keeping stock plants, the sources of plant material, the type of crops being grown, etc. But, not surprisingly, the conclusion about what these main 3 things growers must have to propagate their own liners was:

1. Infrastructure
2. Planning
3. Technical expertise

Let’s briefly review these capabilities in more detail.

Infrastructure: Liners are propagated from different sources. They may come from seed, cuttings or tissue culture. The grower needs to have a dedicated space to provide the proper environmental conditions including heat, light, shade, ventilation, and humidity. Liners would have to be moved, or infrastructure adjusted, to provide the adequate environmental conditions as they grow through the different stages of germinating, rooting, growing and toning. All panelists concluded that the most critical factor, no matter in what part of the continental US the liners are grown, is to provide bottom heat.

Planning: Many growers struggle with planning because we prefer being in the field dealing with plants or engaging with our teams. However, planning is crucial to make sure we finish the crops at the right window of time to avoid losing the sale. Growing liners adds a layer of difficulty because green goods need to be sourced, planted, and grown before transplanting to the finish container size. A grower that plans to pot 30 weeks of the year will now have to plant liners an additional 30 weeks and planting, and therefore planning, doubles in scope and time.

Technical expertise: After infrastructure and planning is covered the challenge is now to successfully grow quality liners that perform in the field when transplanted to its finish container. Different levels of skills will be required depending on the species and varieties grown but most importantly, on how plants are propagated (from seeds, cuttings or tissue culture). At MGN Liners, 95% of the plants we grow come from our own tissue culture lab. We do outsource a handful of products that are normally produced in Asia or Eastern Europe. Plants coming from tissue culture do suffer a shock when taken to the greenhouse and humidity control is critical in the first 2-3 weeks of planting.

I hope this information is helpful if you are considering growing your own liners. However, we at MGN Liners are here to help if you decide to focus solely in growing finished containers.

 

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