Next-gen engineered foam substrate sheets meet specific needs of vegetative propagators.
KENT, Ohio (November 14, 2023) — To succeed in today’s market, commercial cultivators need every competitive advantage, including a precision propagation substrate that channels success. Propagation media pioneer Oasis Grower Solutions is once again responding to cultivators’ needs with the launch of OASIS® RhizoPlug™ Sheet, a new engineered foam growing media designed especially for precision vegetative propagation.
In developing the OASIS® RhizoPlug® Sheet, the Oasis Grower Solutions research and development team raised its own bar. Inspired by the legacy popularity of OASIS® Rootcubes® and the needs of CEA (Controlled Environment Agriculture) cultivators, the team’s new generation of engineered foam propagation substrate outperforms its predecessor in the Oasis Grower Solutions line. In developing the new sheet propagation media, the team decreased the foam substrate’s density and resistance to facilitate easy, breakage-free sticking of clones, while refining and improving the media’s cell structure and capillary action.
Oasis Grower Solutions Director of Global Grower Operations and Research Vijay Rapaka, Ph.D., lead scientist on the team, shared the focus behind the new precision propagation media. “We listened when growers asked for a product to minimize sticking issues, maximize tip contact and support vigorous rooting,” Rapaka said. “We created OASIS® RhizoPlug™ in response to those needs, so cuttings can express their full rooting potential and our customers can succeed.”
Following research with the new media, Allison Justice, Ph.D., founder and CEO of The Hemp Mine, noted that OASIS® RhizoPlug™ Sheets significantly improved the rooting performance of shoot tip hemp cuttings compared to the preceding generation of media. “Across replicates, we noticed faster establishment and root formation of the cuttings in OASIS® RhizoPlug™ Sheet growing media,” Justice said.
OASIS® RhizoPlug™ Sheet Benefits
OASIS® RhizoPlug™ Sheets provide propagators with an ideal substrate for vegetative propagation of a wide variety of crops, from industrial hemp clones to floriculture and culinary herb cuttings. Designed for easy use and handling in manual growing operations, OASIS® RhizoPlug™ Sheets come pre-dibbled with an improved universal star that maximizes clone tip contact, regardless of caliper. Pre-etched grooves in the sheet media ensure separating individual plugs for transplant stays quick and simple, too.
With OASIS® RhizoPlug™ Sheets foam propagation substrate, growers can experience the following features and benefits:
- Advanced surfactant technology – Clones rehydrate faster, allowing earlier reduction in misting frequency, thereby minimizing conditions favorable to pathogens and pests.
- Optimized, consistent air-to-water ratio – Clones display faster, more consistent, more uniform rooting, sheet after sheet and batch after batch.
- Clean, inert, pathogen-free – Limited buffering capacity and nutrients translate to easy Electric Conductivity steering in the root zone.
- Low substrate density and resistance – Clones stick easily, penetrate the media without breakage or tip damage, and root vigorously with improved fine root architecture.
- Unique cellular matrix – Used properly, the foam media eliminates the risk of overwatering, promoting faster rooting and reducing bench time — even on challenging crops.
- Superior capillary action – Ultrafine cell structure improves capillarity and creates an outstanding interface with non-organic or organic media, including peat and coco.
- Food safe – Sheets arrive clean and uncontaminated and remain food safe when used in conjunction with effective, appropriate food safety programs.
OASIS® RhizoPlug™ Sheets engineered foam propagation substrate is available in 50, 104, and 162 count plug sheets from national and international distributors. The company encourages growers to stay tuned to Oasis Grower Solutions for the next Oasis Grower Solutions product launch: OASIS® RhizoPlug™ Trays, developed with large-scale, automated operations in mind.
Photo of Industrial Hemp
About Oasis Grower Solutions, A division of Smithers-Oasis
As a pioneer in propagation media, Oasis Grower Solutions has been innovating in direct response to commercial growers’ substrate needs for more than 50 years. With a passion for global impact, the Oasis Grower Solutions team of horticulture and CEA researchers and specialists is committed to supporting grower success. From vegetative propagation media and hydroponic substrates to hydroponic fertilizer, wetting agents, postharvest products and greenhouse cleaners, Oasis Grower Solutions products, services and people help growers succeed. Visit us at https://oasisgrowersolutions.com/ and on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/oasis-grower-solutions/.
About Smithers-Oasis
Smithers-Oasis’ global expertise in the plant and flower business stretches from propagation to presentation. With locations in more than 19 countries and resources around the world, Smithers-Oasis manufactures and markets floral foam and floral media, postharvest products, growing media, floral sprays and dyes, and flower arranging supplies for the floriculture and horticulture industries. OASIS®, FLORALIFE®, and DESIGN MASTER® are three of the company’s most recognized brands founded in 1954, 1938, and 1961, respectively. With 70 years of experience in foaming technology, Smithers-Oasis also manufactures and markets specialty foams for a wide variety of applications including temperature control packaging, cast-alternative impression, absorption, and molding. The company’s driving purpose is Improving Lives Worldwide. Smithers-Oasis, a privately owned company, is headquartered in Kent, Ohio, USA.
SOURCE: Oasis Grower Solutions
For more information, contact:
Emily Lenzo, Marketing Communications Specialist
Email: elenzo@smitheroasis.com
Oasis Grower Solutions – Division of Smithers-Oasis