Eucalypts need care

Press, 18 February 1983, Page 25

Eucalypts need care

Farmers wanting to plant eucalypts for high-quality timber, must be prepared to maintain a high standard of establishment practice, good supervision and a total commitment to ensure the venture succeeds. This is the message from the Forest Research Institute in a recent publication on growing eucalpyts. The institute is concerned that the low number of early plantings of eucalpyts yielding saleable timber might lead some to believe that eucalpyts caqnot be grown well in New Zealand. This is not the case. Selected species appropriately grown and managed

can produce high-grade clear timber suitable for furniture, interior joinery and other special end uses. The timber of some species is also suitable as a source of short-fibred pulp for the manufacture of paper. The institute says that care must be taken to ensure that the most suitable species are selected and that only good quality nursery stock is used. The key to the production of the ideal seedlings is a nursery programme that changes the natural, skeletal roots into a fibrous system. Site preparation ana planting methods are also covered by the institute in the bulletin. It notes that the rapid development of young eucalpyts depends on the ability of their roots to extend into the surrounding soil. Sites on compacted soil should therefore be ripped or the soil in some way disturbed. Care must be taken to ensure that eucalpyts seedlings are planted correctly. With bare-rooted seedlings the roots should be spread on planting and the soil replaced and firmed around the stem without excessive compaction

Container-raised eucalpyts need to be planted in wellcultivated soils to encourage the rapid development of a vigorous root system. If peat-based containers have been used, the rims should be removed, otherwise they will project above the soil surface and act as a wick, allowing moisture to evaporate and so making the pot walls impenetrable to the roots. The base of the pots should also be removed immediately before planting because it can act as a barrier to taproot development. Considering stocking rates, the institute points out that the number of trees planted per hectare will depend on the reason for which the trees are being grown. As a general guideline, an initial stocking of 1200 to 1500 seedlings per hectare has allowed for a final, crop selection of 100 good-formed well-spaced stems per hectare. Further information can be obtained from the publication, “What's new in forest research: establishing eucalpyts,” which is available from the Forest Research Institute. Private Bag. Rotorua.