DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE  
PESTICIDE AND PLANT PESTICIDE MANAGEMENT DIVISION  
REGULATION NO. 627. CARE OF NURSERY STOCK IN SALES OUTLETS  
(By authority conferred on the commission of agriculture by sections 9, 176, and 178 of  
Act No. 380 of the Public Acts of 1965, and Act No. 189 of the Public Acts of 1931, as  
amended, being SS16.109, 16.276, 16.278, and 286.201 et seq. of the Michigan Compiled  
Laws)  
R 285.627.1 Definitions.  
Rule 1. As used in these rules:  
(a) "Balled stock" means nursery stock removed from the growing site with a portion of  
the root system intact in a ball of the soil in which the plant was grown, the diameter and  
depth of such soil ball to be as specified in the publication entitled "American Standards  
for Nursery Stock," dated February 1, 1973, which is published by, and available from,  
the American Association of Nurserymen, 230 Southern Building, Washington, D.C.  
20005, at a cost of $2.00. The publication may also be inspected at, or obtained from, the  
Michigan Department of Agriculture, Plant Industry Division, Lewis Cass Building, Post  
Office Box 30017, Lansing, Michigan 48909; the cost, when obtained from the department,  
is $2.00.  
(b) "Container-grown stock" means nursery stock grown in a container, with a root system  
completely established in soil or other growing media.  
(c) "Manufactured ball" means a bound ball of soil or other growing media in which the  
roots of nursery stock have been placed with the intended purpose of establishing a root  
system in the media.  
(d) "Packaged nursery stock" means nursery stock prepared for merchandising with the  
roots wrapped in a moisture-holding media, other than soil, with no intention of  
establishing a root system in the media.  
(e) "Potted stock" means nursery stock offered for sale with the root system in soil and in  
a rigid or semi-rigid container in which the plant was not grown and established.  
History: 1979 AC.  
R 285.627.2 Storage and display conditions.  
Rule 2. (1) Balled stock, container-grown stock, potted stock, and nursery stock with  
manufactured balls shall be kept uniformly moist by surrounding or covering the root area  
with nontoxic, moisture-holding materials, or by irrigation sufficient to maintain the  
viability and vigor of the stock, and shall be kept under temperature and light intensity  
conditions that permit normal growth. Balled stock and stock with manufactured balls,  
displayed or stored on pavement or a similar moisture-impervious surface, shall be  
separated from that surface by at least a 4-inch layer of, or shall be surrounded by,  
peat, sawdust, shingletow, soil, or other similar moisture-holding material, which shall be  
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kept moist at all times, or shall be kept under other conditions that will assure maintenance  
of moisture in the ball sufficient to preserve the vigor of the plant.  
(2) Bare-root nursery stock shall be kept under conditions of temperature and moisture  
that maintain viability. Moisture shall be supplied to the root system by high humidity  
conditions in storage or by covering the roots with soil, sawdust, peat, shingletow, or other  
moisture-holding material not toxic to plants, which covering shall be kept moist at all  
times.  
(3) Packaged nursery stock shall be stored and displayed under conditions that preserve  
the vitality of the plant and insure an adequate supply of moisture to the roots at all times.  
History: 1979 AC.  
R 285.627.3 Minimum indices of vitality.  
Rule 3. (1) Woody stemmed deciduous nursery stock, such as fruit and shade trees, rose  
bushes, and flowering shrubs, shall have moist, green cambium tissue in the stem or stems  
and branches, and shall have viable buds or normal green, unwilted growth sufficient to  
permit the plant to live and grow in a form characteristic of the species or variety when  
planted and given reasonable care. In the case of a rose bush, each stem shall show moist,  
green, undamaged cambium in at least the first 8 inches above the graft. Any single stem  
on a rose bush not meeting this specification shall disqualify the entire plant. However, a  
rose bush may be pruned to comply with this specification if at least 1 stem meeting the  
specification remains and the grade designation, if sold by grade, is changed accordingly.  
A packaged rose bush having more than 3 inches of etiolated growth from a bud shall not  
be sold or offered for sale.  
(2) Hardy herbaceous biennials or perennials, when in a wilted, rotted, or similar  
condition indicative of subnormal vitality, shall not be sold or offered for sale.  
(3) Nursery stock in a weakened condition, as evidenced by die-back or desiccation of  
foliage, or balled stock with broken or loose earthballs, broken manufactured balls, or root  
systems of a size smaller than established by the American standard for nursery stock, shall  
not be sold or offered for sale. Packaged nursery stock, potted stock, and nursery stock  
with manufactured balls shall meet the root spread standards established for bare-root  
stock.  
(4) Nursery stock on display at sales outlets not meeting the foregoing minimum indices  
of vitality shall be restricted from sale and shall be removed from public view by the owner  
or person in charge.  
History: 1979 AC.  
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