This is the first in our Did You Know? series of monthly blogs by Ian Burger, Somerset Timbers sales trade manager and we start at seedling nursery school, where these young lives take shape.
We Start At Seedling Nursery School
In the timber industry, seedling quality is everything. More than just tree survival rate, seedling quality determines growth performance, the volume and value of timber that can be harvested from a plantation and the length of the rotation period. It all starts at seedling nursery school.
The quality of a seedling is influenced by the genetic characteristics of the plant source and the physical condition of the seedling raised in the nursery. Of the two, the nursery environment is easier to control, and thus important to get right.
Plantation timber is first raised in forestry nurseries and is then transferred from the seedbed to nursery containers. This is a process known as “pricking out”. From the nursery, the seedling containers are transported to plantations where they are either by hand or machine planted in pre-planned rows.
The planting process is the link between nursey and plantation growth and is critical to tree survival and timber yield. To get this right, the plantation assesses the seedlings according to their Root Collar Diameter (RCD). This is the diameter of the main stem measured at or within a specified distance from the root collar. This is ideally between 3.2mm and 4.7mm. Basically, the thicker the RCD, the better the chance of survival for the tree and the higher the harvesting yields.
So, the next time you stand close to an old plantation pine tree, wrap your arms around it and remind yourself that it all started with a small uncertain seedling.
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