Liner Production
A majority of the trees and plants we put into production at Schwope Brothers Tree Farms have been produced at our facility here on the farm. We have a 32,000 square foot greenhouse where we get the seedlings, grafts, cuttings, and tissue culture plants started. Once established in containers or fabric bags those plants are then moved out on to a seven acre growing range for the summer season and then get planted in the fields in the fall. Every fall we take between 40 and 50 thousand of these liners to our fields.
We go to this effort for many reasons but the primary reason is that the best way to train a superior root system is in a container. Not a regular container though. We use either Rootmaker™ pots or fabric bags. These special containers prune the root system as the plant grows by either constriction pruning the root tip when it is tangled in fiber of the fabric, or air prunes the root tip when it grows through holes in the pots. These special containers make trees like Black gum, Bald cypress, and Chinkapin Oak that have historically been difficult to transplant live and through that process with the same level of success as most trees. This process of producing liners has revolutionized tree production and will allow for much greater plant diversity in landscapes across America.
