Current issue: 58(4)
Different methods of sowing and planting of Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) H. Karst.) were compared on fertile sites in North Karelia (62°20’N, 29°35’E, 85–120 m a.s.l.). The planting material were 4-year-old bare-rooted transplants, 2-year-old bare-rooted seedlings, and 2-year-old containerized seedlings raised in plastic greenhouse. The sowing methods were band sowing and shelter sowing. Ground vegetation was controlled during the first growing season mechanically or chemically, or the control was omitted totally.
Planting of spruce gave better results than sowing. After eight growing seasons there were sowed seedlings left in 30% of the sowing pots. The average height of them was 35 cm. Seedling survival was best with large bare-rooted transplants (91%). Survival of containerized seedlings was 79% and of small bare-rooted transplants 71%. The average height of large bare-rooted transplants was 131 cm, of containerized seedlings 86 cm and small bare-rooted seedlings 68 cm.
Sowing is not an advisable method for regeneration of spruce due to the small survival rate and slow initial development when ground vegetation is controlled only once. Also 2-year-old seedlings gave a satisfactory result in regeneration. Seedlings raised in greenhouse were more sensitive to frost damage than seedlings grown on open ground.
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The objective of the study was to compare different reforestation methods on ploughed areas in Finnish Lapland. Four species were compared: Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.), Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) H. Karst.), silver birch (Betula pendula Roth) and Siberian larch (Larix sibirica Ledeb.). The experiments were established in different parts of Lapland on different types of sites in 1970–72.
In Scots pine there was a difference of 15 percentage points in survival of seedlings between the best and worst methods of regeneration. Containerized seedlings and paper pot seedlings had the best survival rates. In Norway spruce the respective difference between sowing and planting was about 20 percentage points. In favour of planting. The survival rate can be increased by about 20 percentage points by selecting the right tree species. The average height varied from 25 cm (the sowed Norway spruce) to 179 cm (the planted silver birch) after 10 growing seasons. The birch was planted at the most fertile sites only. The longer time passed from the afforestation the clearer was the effect of the local growing conditions on the development of the seedlings. The elevation of the site was one factor seemed to influence the success of the seedlings.
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The paper describes an attempt to determine whether ammonium, nitrate and urea nitrogen are bound in peat used as a filling material in containerized seedling production, what is the effect of the nutrients on certain chemical properties in the peat, and what is the effect of the nitrogen fertilizers on the primary growth of containerized (paper-pot VH 608) Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) seedlings in connection with planting out. The seedlings were fertilized with ammonium sulphate, potassium nitrate and urea.
The results show that none of the fertilizers used were bound in the peat. The nitrogen content in the above ground part of the seedlings increased clearly. Fertilization with ammonium sulphate resulted in the greatest increment and this increase appears to be permanent. The wintering process was somewhat delayed by the fertilization. The seedling mortality rate for all the treatments has been quite appreciable. However, fertilization particularly with ammonium sulphate on the poorer of the two sites studied has had a positive effect on seedling survival. Furthermore, it appears that fertilizer treatments have decreased growth after planting, but in the case of ammonium sulphate this decrease has changed into a clear growth increment.
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The aim of the present study was to assess whether two-year old Betula verrucosa Ehrh. (now Betula pendula Roth.) transplants can be used in afforestation of drained peatlands and what factors affect the development of the young trees. The seedlings were planted in 1967. The site was repair planted next spring due to mortality caused by a undefined fungal disease, and the plantations were fertilized with NPK fertilizer (soil application. The seedlings were measured twice a year until the autumn 1970.
Only 28% of the original transplants, and 73.4% of the repair plantations were alive in 1970. In some cases, fertilization improved the results, while in others it was detrimental to the trees or had no effect on survival. According to peat analysis, the poor survival and development of the plants could be due to the too high ratios of N/Ca and N/P. Stunted or dead trees displayed often necrosis caused by Godronia multispora. According to the experiences, Betula verrucosa plantations are inferior to those obtained with Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.). In addition, the results indicate that in old draining areas calcium and phosphorus are often too low in comparison to nitrogen.
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The paper describes the results of a fertilization experiment, in which transplants of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) and Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) H. Karst.) were fertilized with various doses of fine-ground copper rock phosphate (33% P2O5, 4% Cu) placed direct in the planting hole. The experiment was made in northeast Finland on a clear-cut, burnt-over and furrowed moraine heath. The fertilization increased especially the survival and condition of the Scots pines and increased to some extent also the height growth of the plants. The spruce survived better than the pines.
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Seedlings of three different Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) nursery stock, 1+0 ,1+1, and 2+0, were kept over the winter, after they had been packed in polythene bags, in three different ways: 1) In a refrigerated storage room, 2) in a wooden crate in the ground, 3) submerged in a lake. The seedling to which they were to be compared with were left over the winter in a nursery bed. The 1,800 seedlings were planted out in the spring 1966 in 15 random blocks. Their development was scrutinized during the three subsequent falls.
The seedlings which had been stored in the lake all died. The seedlings which had been stored along the 1st and 2nd method, managed almost as well as the ones which had been kept over the winter in the nursery bed, except for those of 1+0 stock.
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Experiments were carried out to find out the effect of fertilizer application on germination, seedling emmergnece and initial development in conifer plantations established on peat by sowing, with a special reference to Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.). The experiments were carried out in 1968–70 in laboratory, in greenhouse and in the field.
In the greenhouse experiments with Y fertilizer for peat soils (14% N, 18% P2O5, 10% K2O) it was shown that germination and seedling emergence decreased markedly with increased fertilizer application. Mortality among seedlings that had emerged was the higher the larger quantities of fertilizer had been applied. The effect of fertilization was the greater, the drier the substrate. Fine ground rock phosphate (33% P2O5) promoted seedling emergence on a dry substrate but not on a wet one.
The field experiments carried out in Central Finland included dry and wet sites. Y fertilizer, Oulu Saltpeter (25% N), fine-ground rock phosphate and potassium salt (50% K2O) were used. According to the results, easily soluble fertilizers decreased seedling emergence. On wet sites the effect of Y fertilizer was weaker than on drier sites. Fine-ground rock phosphate slightly increased the number of seedlings emerging. Height growth was increased during the first three growing seasons only by those fertilizers containing phosphorus.
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The paper describes the results obtained from an experiment of fertilization of drained treeless peatlands in connection of planting in three sites in Central Finland. Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) seedlings 2+0 was used. The fertilizer (Y-fertilizer for peat soils, 14% N, 18% P2O5, 10% K2O) was applied in rates of 0, 20, 40 and 80 g/transplant. The fertilizer was strewn either around the plant within a circular patch of 20 cm in diameter, in a ring with a radius of 10 cm and in a ring with a radius of 20 cm. The seedlings were measured two and five years after planting.
The greater the quantity of fertilizer applied and the closer it was applied to the plant the higher was the mortality of transplants. Fertilization increased the mortality during the first two growing seasons after application. Later, however, the mortality decreased to a similar level irrespective the way the fertilizer was applied. In the beginning of the second growing season the fertilized plants showed considerably better height growth than the control plants. The smallest quantity of fertilizer applied produced almost full increase in growth. The pattern of application of the fertilizer had little effect on the growth.
It was concluded that a use of small amounts of fertilizer can be recommended in connection with planting and that it should not be applied very near the seedlings.
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The aim of the study was to investigate the effect of four packing methods on the field survival and growth of seedlings and transplants of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) stored over the winter in a cold-storage cellar. The following sorts of plants were used: one-year-old seedlings (1+0) grown in a plastic greenhouse, two-year-old (2+0) open grown seedlings and three-year-old open grown transplants. These plants were stored in open wooden boxes, in sealed plastic bags, in boxes with wet peat on the bottom and in plastic-laminated paper bags.
The control plants were of the same types and were kept in a nursery over the winter. The storage was carried out in a mantle-chilled cold-storage from October 1966 to May 1967. The temperature in the cold-storage was kept around -2 °C and the relative humidity of the air over 90%. The water content of a randomly selected sample plants showed no increase in water deficit after the storing. Part of the seedlings were transplanted in the nursery and the rest were planted in a clear-cut area. A number of the latter plants were treated with an insecticide (1% Intaktol, which contains DDT, Lindane and dieldrin) before planting. All the experiments were examined after one growing season and the planting experiments the next fall.
The transplants (2+1) in the nursery, and in the forest had survived and grown better than the seedlings. In the nursery the 1+0 seedlings survived and grew better than the 2+0 seedlings. There was no difference in mortality between the seedlings. After the first growing season occasional significant differences between the packing methods were observed, but they disappeared during the second growing season. Thus, all packing methods proved to be as successful as the control method without winter storage.
Transplants were more often attacked by the large pine weevil (Hylobius abietis L.) than the smaller seedlings. The damage, however, was considerably greater on the seedlings because of their lower resistance. No significant differences in the Hylobius-attack between the packing methods could be observed. The Intaktol-treated plants were as often attacked as the untreated ones, but the damage was slighter on the treated ones.
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The aim of the present study was to establish, by means of planting experiments, the influence of different packing, heeling-in and watering as well as the length of the storage period on the development of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) seedlings, in all 2,090 seedlings, that had been lifted from the nursery bed in spring. The plants were packed in bundles and into plastic sacks in 1965 (6 storage methods) and in 1966 (3 storage methods). Control seedlings were planted without storing at the time when storage of the test material begun. The plantations were followed 3–4 years.
Storage for two weeks in the different ways and planting without storage gave similar results when seedling survival was compared. Storage in plastic sack proved to be as good as storage in bundles in a cellar, and healing-in in moist soil or in a drain were both usable methods. Watering the seedlings did not improve the results, which indicates that the storage caused no serious lack of water.
After four growing seasons an average of 19,6% of the seedlings of the 1965 experiment died, the bulk of them by the end of the first growing season. Despite control treatment, Hylobious abietis caused serious damages. In the plantations of the year 1966 mortality of the seedlings was under 5% by the end of third growing season. During the first two growing seasons after planting differences in growth of the seedlings stored in different ways could be observed in the plantations of the year 1965, but the differences levelled out later. In the plantations established in 1966 no differences in growth occurred.
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The aim of this study was to establish the need of treatment of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) and Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) H. Karst.) seeds to be sown in greenhouse. 3 x 100 seeds of each treatment (soaking in water, treatment with Pb3O4, treatment with tiram-containing coating substance) were sown in a glasshouse on a fertilized garden peat, and covered with peat layer of 6 mm thickness. The development of seedlings was followed for 100 days before the final measurement.
Soaking the seeds with water made germination somewhat faster. In spruce the germination percentage increased, but the opposite was observed in pine. No difference could be observed between the results from soaking with acid water from peat soil and lake water. Drying the soaked seeds for a week before sowing had no harmful influence on the germination or the early development of the seedlings. Treatment with Pb3O4 did not affect the germination speed or the seedling percentage of pine or spruce, but increased the germination percentage of spruce. Coating decreased germination and seedling percentages in pine. However, the differences between the treatments were so small that their practical significance is negligible.
Germination of both the species initiated on an average in 8 days, and 16 days after sowing 80% of the seeds had germinated. Seedling mortality was about 10% of the total number of seedlings, the most common reason being damping-off.
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In 1965 and 1966 a total of 25 experiments were laid out in various parts of Finland in order to find out the effect of simultaneous variation in the intensity of drainage and fertilization on the development of plantations and natural seedling stands of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) growing on pine swamps. The fertilizer used was Y fertilizer for peat soils, a fertilizer mixture containing 14 % N, 18 % P2O5 and 10 % K2O. It was applied in rates of 500, 1,000 and 1,500 kg/ha. The ditch spacings studied were 10, 20 and 30 m. The present paper is a preliminary report on a series of studies, the experiments will be observation for a total of 15–20 years.
Mortality of the planted seedlings was found to be the higher after the first growing season, the larger the quantity of fertilizer that had been applied. Fertilizing caused an increase in seedling mortality even after the first growing season following application. At the end of the fifth growing season the height of both natural and planted seedlings is the greater, the larger the quantity of fertilizer that has been applied. Analysis of the height growth of the seedlings showed that larger quantities of fertilizer did not increase growth in the same proportion. The occurrence of growth disturbances is the greater, the more fertilizer has been applied.
Fertilization also changed the composition of ground vegetation. The in the beginning of the experiment birch (Betula sp.) was absent in the area, but was found in the stands the greater abundance the higher application of the fertilizer.
From the viewpoint of growth of the seedlings the best results were obtained with the greatest intensity of fertilization and the narrowest ditch spacing used in the study. The results also show that strong fertilization and a high degree of drainage intensity are not capable of bringing about any particularly good growth on peatlands which originally are relatively poor in nutrients. The growth values now obtained equal only one third of those obtained on peat soils of greater fertility.
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This study was carried out in 1966 in the nursery at Hyytiälä, Korkeakoski Forest District, in Southern Finland. The influence of lifting date (two liftings), way of packing (two methods) and length of storage (one, three and six weeks) on the development of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.), 2 + 1, during the four years following planting was assessed. On the seedlings stored for six weeks, the influence of compensating for the water deficit was also studied.
According to the results, the lifting carried out later, i.e. when the seedlings had already started growth, gave slightly better results than when seedlings were lifted earlier. No difference could be observed for seedlings stored for one week, but for the seedlings stored for three or six weeks, mortality in the lot lifted earlier was 6- to 7-fold that of the seedlings lifted later. The main reason for this was probably that the seedlings of the earlier lifting suffered from lack of water at the time of lifting.
The growth of the seedlings lifted earlier and stored for three weeks showed a decrease compared to those lifted later. For the seedlings stored for six weeks, on the other hand, faster growth was recorded for both the seedlings of the earlier and the later lifting in comparison with those stored for shorter times. Watering increased to some extent the growth of the seedlings stored for six weeks.
During the normal, one- and three-week storing periods, seedlings were well preserved when packed both in bundles and in polythene sacks. Three years after the planting the average mortality was about 10%. Effect of watering was large for those seedlings that had been longer in the storage.
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