Count plants in a nursery bed from a photo

Counting plants bed by bed in a nursery or field

Plants are counted by nurseries across their beds, by growers preparing orders, at the end of a season for planning, and between growth stages to track losses and culls. Young plants with space between them count well; mature plants whose leaves touch merge into one green mass that no photo can split cleanly, so count earlier in the season where you can.

Photograph one bed or section at a time from as high as practical: a stepladder at the end of a bed, or straight down over pots on a bench. Weeds and volunteer seedlings are plants too, so mark one crop plant as the example in Similar items to keep the counter on the right shape. Different varieties in one bed may look different from above; mark each. Shoot in even light, since strong sun casts leaf shadows that look like extra plants.

Bed number and variety make each tally row traceable once its markers have been reviewed. Young stock in trays is covered by the seedling counter, potted stock on benches by the flower pot counter, and orchard or plantation rows by the tree counter.

Bed photo checks

• One bed or section per photo
• Camera as high as practical, looking down
• A crop plant, not a weed, marked as the example
• Even light with no harsh leaf shadows