Maximize Your Results with Your Seedling Genetics Choice.

You only have one chance to get it right when it comes to your tree seedling investment. The wrong choice can be a 25-year mistake. The person you work with must have the experience and education in forestry to really understand all of the factors you need to consider when planting. With that comes the need and the ability to provide the hard, clear data necessary to prove that what they are saying is true. Ask your reforestation advisor about their background and what other landowners have accomplished with their advice. Ask for references from other landowners.

The answer is Yes, and it depends.

Bareroot refers to a tree available for sale with its roots exposed. For most reforestation situations, bareroot seedlings will provide survival rates of around 88%-90%. Planting with container seedlings can improve survival on droughty sites and may be planted early in the planting season (October/November) or late season planting (April/May) thus extending the planting season. However, under typical conditions during the normal planting window (December to March) bareroot seedlings will survive and grow equally well versus container seedlings.

Planting containerized seedlings is not a substitute for good quality site preparation or genetic improvement. Landowners should not use containerized seedlings to skimp on site preparation thinking that containerized seedlings will compensate for poor or no site prep. For example, failing to bed on a wet site and planting containerized seedlings will likely not give as good a result as bedding and planting bareroot seedlings in terms of growth and survival because the limiting factor (excessive soil moisture and poor aeration of the roots) has not been addressed. Similarly, whether choosing bare root or container seedlings, the type of genetic improvement in the seed is more important in the long run.

Not knowing the seed source of your seedlings can be devastating. Seedlings produced from seed with Florida parentage won’t survive or reach their full potential on a site in Virginia. Experienced seedling providers such as ArborGen can provide the correct geographic seed source and genetic performance data to landowners.

Loblolly Pine: Coastal, Piedmont, Northern, Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma
Additionally, Performance Rating System scores (PRS) from the North Carolina State University Tree Improvement Cooperative are available for trees that have been tested in its field trials. It is critical when deciding between different genetic choices that the checklots in NCSU PRS data are from the same geographic location or provenance. Learn about pine seedling success and suggested seedling types and genetic makeup for planting in Georgia, South Carolina, and other states. For example, if you want to compare two families for use in South Carolina, the appropriate checklot in the PRS scoring will be the South Carolina checklot.

ArborGen now has Western Gulf Performance Scores for families to be planted in Louisiana, Arkansas, Texas, and Oklahoma. Your forestry seedling vendor or consultant should be able to readily provide you with the information to provide the correct comparisons. Demand data transparency in making your seedling selection.

Make sure the reforestation company you work with asks you about your goals for you and your family and helps you develop a plan to achieve those. They should communicate with you in a clear, transparent way the facts and data that support their claims.

Ask about their quality control and tracking systems to make sure they are delivering you the high quality seedlings you expect.

They should deliver what you want, where you want it, when you want it. And your reforestation company should commit to being there for advice and support after planting until the first thinning. You are in this for the long haul – they should be too.