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Fast degradation of coral reefs worldwide has promoted the exploitation of active restoration instruments, one of which is the ‘gardening concept’. This concept comprises two phases: (1) establishing in situ coral nurseries for rearing large numbers of coral fragments; (2) their transplantation onto denuded reefs. This study tested the design and performance of a novel mid-water floating nursery instrument, a ‘rope nursery’. This nursery accommodated small coral fragments attached to a rope, creating an easily constructed nursery bed that is rapid and inexpensive. Two sets of experiments were conducted: the first tested two mid-water rope nursery prototypes in small-scale trials that tested depth, coral genotypes and construction stability, whereas the second set incorporated lessons learned from the first set, and was designed to carry larger numbers of colonies. These highly economical nurseries (US$ 0.11 …