/december_2011_how_to_create_the_perfect_plant by CMI Marseille

How to create the perfect plant Introduction The Groasis Technology is introduced by AquaPro Holland, a private company founded by the inventor Pieter Hoff. The Groasis Technology is a biomimicry technology and exists of: 1) improving the soil with mycorrhizae 2) leaving the capillary structure intact 3) using plants with the right primary roots 4) the use of the waterboxx and if necessary when planting on rocks 5) the use of the capillary drill. The Groasis Technology is a copy of how Mother Nature solves the problem of planting trees in deserts, eroded areas and on rocks. This way we can replant the deserts and make them productive. The importance of the primary root The principle way of Mother Nature to reproduce and multiply is by sowing seedson top of the soil. The seeds are in general transported and deposited on top of the soil by means of wind or through the excrement of animals. The seed then starts to develop its primary root to find water and the plant establishes. Once the primary root has found water, the plant starts to develop secundary roots and sequently starts to grow and evaporate.

Mother Nature’s planting technique in 4 stageson one photo

© AquaPro BV -Franseweg 9 - 4651PV Steenbergen – Nederland - Tel +31(0)167-547554- Fax +31(0)167-547555- Cell +31(0)654340410 www.groasis.com email phoff@aquaproholland.com All our offers, orders, contracts and agreements are exclusively done according to our general terms and conditions as deposited at the Chamber of Commerce at Breda – Holland under nr. 1453.

The present produced plants have wrong roots The present sold plants multiplied by modern production methods are produced with destroyed primary roots. The plants are grown in a way that the primary root is tipping the bottom and then splits into secundary roots. AquaPro has bought and fotographed plants in more than 20 countries and until now hasn’t found one plant with an intact primary root. All plants found have destroyed primary roots and over-developed secundary roots. These kind of plants are not able to survive dry periods or a dry soil without the help of irrigation. Secundary roots are also not able to penetrate deeply or break rocks. Here are two photos that speak for themselves.

Destroyed, splitted and upward growing primary root grown in plugs in Spain

Destroyed, splitted and horizontal growing primary roots grown in plastic bags in Kenya

A young plant in Dubai, before transplanting in its second pot, has got a destroyed twisted primary root. After being transplanted to the second, two smaller and thinner roots have been developed, lacking the original power of the original one A new quality standard In order to get plants with optimum roots, AquaPro has studied and investigated severely the development of roots in Mother Nature compared with those produced in modern plant producing companies. In order to get a quality comparable with the power of the root that’s developing from a seed, AquaPro has developed a new type of plant producing tray, the DEEPROOTPaper Plug. This tray is made of paper pulp and its model is based on developing and keeping intact both the primary root and the secundary roots. This way producing a plant with a primary root to penetrate deep – even through rocks – to always have enough water even through periods with serious droughts. And with secundary roots to penetrate wide in order to optimize the capacity of absorbing oxygen, macro- and micro elements and water after a rain shower. Besides this AquaPro introduces a set of minimum standards that are to be used by growers while producing the plants. Growers who use the DEEP ROOT Paper Plug and follow the standard minimum requirements set by AquaPro while producing, can apply for the ‘Groasis Certified Plant Grower’ Certificate. Once they have applied, they will be visited by AquaPro or its delegate to start the application procedure. Once the procedure has been run through satisfactory, the ‘Groasis Certified Plant Grower’ Certificate will be © AquaPro BV -Franseweg 9 - 4651PV Steenbergen – Nederland - Tel +31(0)167-547554- Fax +31(0)167-547555- Cell +31(0)654340410 www.groasis.com email phoff@aquaproholland.com All our offers, orders, contracts and agreements are exclusively done according to our general terms and conditions as deposited at the Chamber of Commerce at Breda – Holland under nr. 1453.

provided. The basic of a planting success lies in the plant production: make a plant with a perfect root! Thesephotos show the DEEPROOTPaper Plug and the development of the primary root in it. The plug is placed on two little feet. In between the primary root is air pruned and therefore keeps on being vertically downwards until the moment of planting.

Root buds development of a cutting in a DEEPROOTpaper plug. Cuttings develop more than one primary root, but these roots are less strong then the single primary root of a seed.

When do we sow the seed or plant the cutting in the DEEP ROOT Paper Plug? With the Groasis Technology we can plant yearround as long as temperatures are not higher than +35°C (+95° Fahrenheit). In order to develop the right plant, as a copy of Mother Nature like you see in the pictures above, one needs to know 1) the germination time in days and 2) the time in days until the primary root lengthens to about 10 cm (4 inches) long. After germinating and rooting, we harden the plant approximately 3) 14 days before we plant them outside. We sum up these 3 occasions and the total of this sum, is the number of days we sow the plants before the planting date outside. How to help the seed germinate? Not all seeds germinate easily. Some seeds need to be vernalised. This means that they first must have received a period of cold before they germinate. This is a way of Mother Nature to protect itself. An example: if an acorn would germinate directly after falling on the ground in October, and then this young plant would get a heavy frost, the plant would die. So the seed doesn’t germinate unless it has been vernalised. This means it needs to have at least 3 months of low temperatures before it is able to germinate. So this way the seed comes undamaged through the Winter and in Spring it will germinate. Some seeds from natives where no Winter exists have other protecting mechanisms. For instance, above 30°C they do not germinate anymore. This is to prevent that they germinate just before the Summer and then die becauseof drought. So check the seed that you have and find out its characteristics. Once you know that your seed can be sown, you can help to stimulate the germination a lot if you soak the seed during 48 hours in water. You may also keep it in a closed box with wet tissue paper for 72 hours. After this treatment you can sow the seed in the plug. After soaking you can see the primary root already breaking the seed. Then it is even possible to select the seeds that you sow: those that do not germinate are probabbly not fertile. Better not sow them or soak them a day more to check better. If they do not germinate, then do not sow them. How do we help the seed further germinating and growing after sowing? All plants like the combination of oxygen and humidity. Where there is water, there is no oxygen. So this principle, a combination of humidity and oxygen, gives the best result. This is how you do it: 1) After sowing in the plugs we start with giving water on a very careful way 2) On the first and perhaps the second day (see next point) only, you give the plugs each half hour 1 minute of soft ‘rain’ via sprinklers. If you do it by hand, then do it with a very soft spray as we do not want the soil to compact as this means less oxygen in our soil 3) You continue this way until you find that the soil in the plug, on the bottom, has become humid 4) Then we change our system and go over to start to maintain the Relative Humidity (RH) on 100%.We stop giving water, we start giving humidity. 5) You do this in a combination through watching carefully the climate and then – in general follow this line: on 7AM you give 1 minute of ‘rain’. You repeat this 2 hours later at 11AM. Then you give 1 minute at 12AM, 1PM, 2PM, 3 PM and 4PM. Then you give 1 minute of rain at 6PM and 8PM.

6) You see that the thinking behind this is that you intensify the schedule when the sun is shining strongly and temperatures rise accordingly. Once this happens the RH drops dramatically so you have to ‘repair’ this by intensifying your schedule. This means that if you do not have such hot circumstances, it might well be that you keep on going on a 2 hours schedule even during the day. 7) As soon as the seeds have 100% germinated and your plants are approximately 1 cm high, you reduce this schedule. Now we are going to ‘harden’ our plants and instead of keeping the humidity high, you go for a climate where the humidity is low. You do this in a ‘soft’ way. So you go two days to a 2 hours schedule, then 2 days to a 3 hours schedule and at last you only give at 7AM, at 12AM and at 6PM. 8) In the same time you give them less shade this way the leaves do not grow too big but stay compact. This causes less evaporation and less burning after we have transplanted them to the final place outside in the waterboxx. 9) Measurements 7 and 8 are meant to already prepare our plants to go and survive well outside, even when it is hot and dry there. 10) Success! How to use the DEEP ROOT Paper Plug As you can see, the bottom of the plug has two feet. The primary root that penetrates the bottom of the plug, will wait between these feet, if we air prune it well. Therefore we need to put them on a dry surface, preferably a planttable or a box, so that the wind can ventilate below it. The size of the plug is 5 x 5 cm so we have 400 plugs per m2. Which plants can we plant with the Groasis Technology? The Groasis Technology is a planting methodology for any plant, no matter whether it is a tree, a shrub, a bush, a vegetable or a flowering plant. However, it is important to understand that this technology is not an irrigation system. Instead of that, it is a planting technology. It is a way to plant a plant in such a way that after one year, the plant is able to deal with the local circumstances. This means that your plant must have the capacities to deal with them. So if you have 300 mm (12 inches) of rainfall and the plant needs 400 mm to survive (for each specie its need is known), it will die after the first year of help with the Groasis waterboxx. If you have 300 mm of rainfall and your plant needs 290 mm to survive, it will forever survive after the first year of help. Like in Mother Nature. Mycorrhizae The roots of all plants on earth do not eat/drink directly from the soil. Instead of that they cooperate with mycorrhizae. These are funguses that are in the soil and break down the macro-elements (N-PK-Mg) and micro-elements and they give them to the roots. In exchange for that they receive about 30%of the sugar production from the tree/shrub. Without this exchange, trees/shrubs cannot grow. They must have mycorrhizae to help them growing. So if we start in a very dry soil with almost no mycorrhizae, our plants will grow badly. Therefore it is an important part of the Groasis Technology to inoculate the soil in the DEEPROOTpaper plug with mycorrhizae and later on the soil below the waterboxx also.

How do we make soil with micorrhizae for the plugs and the soil below the box? Once you know the specie or variety that you want to sow or plant in the plug, you go and find a place where this specie grows. Then collect the soil and leaves from below that tree/shrub. Mix that material with the quantity of soil that you need to fill the plugs with and that you want to put below the waterboxx. The plug is approximately 50 cc and below the box we want approximately 500 cc (half a liter). Now you have soil with the right mold spores and as soon as you start to irrigate the plugs after sowing, these spores will develop and your plants are inoculated with the right micorrhizae. After preparing the planting place, while keeping the capillary water transport system in the soil intact, but before putting the box in its place, we add the same mix, about half a liter on top of the soil, below the box. After putting the box, the sleeping mycorrhizae will develop becauseof the right temperature below the box in cooperaation with the high humidity. Requirements for a grower to make the perfect plants: • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Company and equipment need to be clean and representative Equipment needs to be safe and offer a good protection to users Plants will be produced in the DEEPROOTPaper Plug Plant protection has to be done according to local laws Plantmaterial has to be supplied according to local laws Plantmaterial has to be minimum 99%true variety according to the order Plantmaterial has to be supplied sound and with white roots The rootsystem has to exist of at least one undamaged primary root and undamaged secundary roots Plants may be produced in a plastic or glassgreenhouse, a plastic tunnel or outside If produced in a greenhouse, the roof and the sides of the greenhouse must be able to be opened If produced in a tunnel the sides of the tunnel must be able to be opened Shading must be done with white shade net, above the greenhouse, tunnel or if produced outside, over the plants. Black shadenet is not allowed to be used. In the last 14 days before shipping, plants must be hardened through growing under as dry as possible circumstances with the highest possible light intension

If you follow these recommendations with your plant multiplication, you will have unexpectedly high survival rates, independent from how difficult circumstances are. AquaPro wishes you a good success. AquaPro – Holland Pieter Hoff CEO Ps: we strongly advise you to read the 3 following links: http://www.groasis.com/page/uk/saplings.php http://www.groasis.com/page/uk/material.php

http://www.groasis.com/page/uk/lessons.php