Cultural Practices to Improve Survival and Growth of Loblolly and White Pine Seedlings
This is a broad subject for thirty minutes, so to save time I will skip the routine cultural practices that all nurseries do and spend my time on a few optional cultural practices that some nurseries do and some don't. By routine practices, I mean such things as good so] I management, accurate seeding, and insect and disease control. I will discuss top-clipping, root pruning, and irrigation rates. All three of these affect growth in the seedbed, and can also affect survival and growth in the field. Many nurseries use top-clipping and/or root pruning to control seedling size, especially top length. My comments will be based on research I was involved in over a thirty year period. I want to offer a couple of precautions about the applicability of this research. First, things that work in Virginia may not work in the deep South. There is risk in extrapolating to areas of different climate. Second, things that work in one nursery may not work in another, even in the same geographic area. Soil differences, in particular, and also differences in cultural practices may result in different responses to a treatment.
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Author(s): Thomas A. Dierauf
Publication: National Nursery Proceedings - 1996
Event:
Southern Forest Nursery Association Meetin
1996 - Gatlinburg, TN
