Target Seedling Specifications: Are Stocktype Designations Useful?
A stocktype designation identifies a seedling’s age and the basic method by which it was produced. The designation inexactly implies seedlings’ relative size and conveys very little information about their critically important physiological condition. Although designations for the primary types of seedlings have not changed much over the years, size and quality of most types have been improved significantly. Comparisons of field performance in the Pacific Northwest indicate that survival is often not greatly different whether a seedling was produced in a container, in a bareroot seedbed, or had been transplanted. On the other hand, seedling height after three to five years in the field tends to be somewhat greater for stocktypes that usually consist of larger seedlings; increased growth probably relates more to initial seedling size than to seedling age and production method. For most sites and situations, foresters should prescribe seedlings of the size and physiological condition that are most appropriate ecologically and economically. Nursery managers should use the cultural and economic options available to them to meet those client needs. Choosing the type of seedling to produce is just one of the decisions to be made in accomplishing that goal.
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Author(s): Peyton W. Owston
Publication: National Nursery Proceedings - 1990
Event:
Combined Meeting of the Western Forest Nursery Associations
1990 - Roseburg, OR
