vivero

Vivero is a plant nursery in Spanish-speaking countries, a facility where young plants are propagated and grown to saleable size for transplantation or reforestation. Nurseries may specialize in ornamentals, fruit trees, forestry seedlings, or native species, and can produce stock by seeds, cuttings, grafting, or tissue culture. They supply garden centers, landscapers, farmers, government agencies, and restoration projects.

A typical vivero includes propagation areas such as seedbeds and germination rooms, production houses with shading or glass greenhouses, potting stations, and hardening-off spaces for acclimating seedlings to field conditions. Key operations include seed sowing or cuttings, rooting, transplanting into containers, pest and disease management, irrigation, fertilization, and routine stock selection for vigor and genetic quality. Some nurseries maintain inventory of finished plants by size class and species, ready for sale or shipment.

Types:

- horticultural or ornamental nurseries that produce flowering plants, shrubs, and trees for landscaping

- fruit, nut, and nut-tree nurseries

- forestry or reforestation nurseries that supply seedlings for replanting forests

- native or regional plant nurseries focusing on endemic species

The term vivero also appears in contexts such as fish nurseries or stockyards, but in horticulture it primarily refers to plant propagation facilities. Sustainable practices common in modern nurseries include water-efficient irrigation, shade management, sterile media, container reuse, and integrated pest management.