Nursery and Establishment Techniques as Factors in Productivity of Man-made Forests in Southern Africa

Abstract

SUMMARY The effects of silvicultural practice, both in nursery and field establishment, on the survival and growth of man-made forests are discussed. In the nursery the production of trees which survive is considered more important and more likely to succeed than trying to influence the long-term growth of the stand. The nursery-man should concentrate on increasing his efficiency without reducing the survival rate of his plants. The use of containers, particularly polythene sleeves, is still the most important method of producing seedlings. Bed-raised, bare-rooted plants which have been thoroughly conditioned are becoming increasingly important, however. Conditioning, the under-cutting and wrenching of a tree's roots which produces a compact fibrous root system and a dormant state in the shoot, has created the greatest possibility for change in nursery practice in Southern Africa. Mycorrhizal inoculation in the nursery using ground sporophores or spores of Rhizopogon and/or Pisolithus has been shown to be...