Treesearch

Miniplug transplants are a new nursery stocktype created when seedlings from very small containers are transplanted into bareroot nursery beds or larger containers. Most miniplugs used in forest and conservation nurseries feature some sort of stabilized growing medium—this allows the seedlings to be transplanted before they grow sufficient roots to form a root plug. Miniplug transplants continue to grow in popularity because they are a quick way to produce large plants, are very efficient in use of nursery production space, and have a very favorable seed-to-shippable plant ratio.

The FQPA was designed to protect infants, children, and females from pesticides, and was effective immediately on signing by the president. The act requires review of ALL tolerances, and introduced the “risk cup” concept as a method for evaluating lifetime exposures to pesticides.

Modifying media through the addition of slow-release fertilizers and other amendments is a beneficial tool in optimizing seedling performance. At our container reforestation nursery in southwest Washington, we have been enhancing our media through the incorporation of slowrelease fertilizers and other amendments in our culturing of native conifers. The concept behind enhanced media is the modification of media components to optimize seedling performance. Enhancing the media allows for growing seedlings outside and supports the development of wellbalanced seedlings, both morphologically and...

The taxon Fusarium oxysporum contains a complex of fungi that are very important pathogens of many plant species worldwide, including seedlings grown in forest nurseries. All members of this complex appear very similar morphologically, and can often be differentiated only on the basis of genetic analyses. Strains of F. oxysporum may be pathogenic or nonpathogenic and both types often occupy the same environments and readily infect plant roots. Because of their similar requirements, nonpathogenic strains of F. oxysporum have been exploited as biological controls of pathogenic Fusarium...

Over the past 50 years, methyl bromide (MBr) has proven to be a consistently reliable pesticide that enhances seedling production and suppresses soilborne pests. It is the industry standard and an essential component of virtually every pest management program in southern forest tree nurseries. Due to the listing of MBr as a ozone depleting substance, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ordered production frozen at 1991 levels and a complete ban on the production of MBr after 1 January 2005. Provisions within the Montreal Protocol (MP) allow for economic and scientific uncertainty...

Water oak is often used in afforestation projects in the Lower Mississippi Alluvial Valley, but its field performance is often poor due to low survival rates and severe top dieback immediately after planting. The poor physiological quality of planting stock may be a contributing factor to this transplanting problem. In this study, cold storage was investigated to increase dormancy status of seedlings. The physiological status of cold-stored and freshly lifted seedlings was assessed from mid-December to late February during one season using chlorophyll fluorescence, net photosynthesis,...

Today there are approximately 222 million acres (90 million ha) of federal land in Alaska - that’s about 60 percent of the state. And of that vast acreage, there are about 57.5 million acres (23.3 million ha) of designated wilderness, along with some 16.5 million acres (6.7 million ha) of proposed wilderness areas. Alaska’s designated wilderness acreage makes up approximately 54 percent of the entire nation’s wilderness, but it’s only about 26 percent of Alaska’s public lands. So depending on your point of view, the amount of Alaska’s wilderness acreage is either a triumph or an opportunity...

Forest tree nurseries rely on tight scheduling of operations to deliver vital seedlings to the planting site. Cold storage is required to: (1) prevent winter damage, especially in container seedlings; (2) to maintain planting stock in an inactive condition; and (3) to ensure plant supply for geographically distinct planting sites, a definite requirement for large-scale or internationally operating nurseries.

The use of blackout cloth to create long night photoperiods for the induction of dormancy in certain conifer species has been an established practice for a long time. Its use was suggested by Tinus and McDonald (1979) as an effective technique, and the practice has been commonly used in Canadian forest nurseries for a number of years. Cal-Forest Nursery installed its first blackout system in 1998 after a visit to several Canadian nurseries. Over the next several years, the basic protocols were established. Successful use of blackout requires appropriate equipment and knowledge of appropriat...

Nuttall oak (Quercus nuttallii Palm.) seedlings raised at state nurseries in Mississippi, Louisiana, and Arkansas were morphologically different in height, root collar diameter, fresh mass, number of first-order lateral roots, root volume, and height-to-root collar diameter ratio. When outplanted on afforestation sites in the Lower Mississippi Alluvial Valley, nursery source did not significantly affect seedling survival or height and diameter growth 2 years after outplanting. Competing herbaceous vegetation reduced Nuttall oak seedling survival by 8%, height growth by 69%, and root collar...