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Chapter 4 - Seed Management

Proper seed management is crucial to southern pine regeneration programs. Almost all seeds will soon be collected from the more than 4,000 ha of seed orchards, where production rates are now about 100 kg/ha for older orchards. Orchard collections can be either multiclone bulk or separate clonal, depending on management objectives. Collection of cones by hand from hydraulic lifts is still the most common technique, but net retrieval systems are used increasingly for loblolly (Pinus taeda L.). New extraction and cleaning systems can produce extremely good seedlots. The most common plant sequence is: (1) scalping of large debris, (2) dewinging, (3) cleaning, and (4) sizing and other conditioning steps. Cleaned lots should be sampled correctly for tests of moisture, purity, weight, and germination. Standard laboratory germination tests are still best, but sound information on seed quality is available from certain rapid tests, such as the measurement of leachate conductivity.


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Author(s): Franklin T. Bonner

Publication: Forest Regeneration Manual