Guideline No.12 - Gr.. - SPGS

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from the root collar). Reject over and undersizedplants and any that show signs of damageor sickness. Smaller seedlings may not have welldeveloped root systems needed to cope with theharsh conditions inevitably encountered followingplanting out. Larger seedlings will struggle to establishthemselves as the small root system tries to copewith the demands (of water and nutrients) from theleaves. For more information on tree nurseries inUganda refer to SPGS Plantation Guideline No. 7– Tree Nurseries: the Key Issues.The future? Hybrid pine cuttings at one of FPQ’s nurseries in Australia. These areselected Pinus elliottii x PCH crosses.Before you buy tree seed, always ask for itsfull origin and collection details as well as itsexpected germination %.Both the NFA and an increasing number of privatelyowned nurseries have improved over the last fewyears and many are now able to take orders tosupply seedlings to private growers. Orders must betaken 6 months in advance to allow for planning,seed purchase and time to raise the plants.Payment of a 30% deposit is recommended at thetime of order.Insist on seedlings from improved seed and thenonly plant healthy plants, 15-25cm tall (measured8. Site PreparationThe chosen method of land preparation will dependon the nature of the vegetation to be cleared andthe resources (labour, machinery etc.) availableto the grower. The most important issue with landpreparation is to time it so that the land is clear intime for subsequent operations – namely, lining out,pitting and pre-plant spraying operations. Clearingland too early will lead to heavy weed growth, whichwill have to be controlled prior to planting. Clearingtoo late leads to delays in planting: planting late inthe rainy season is always risky and usually ends infailure of the crop.Choose the most appropriate and cost-effectivemethod for land preparation. Piling and burningthe trash makes the site easier to mark out forplanting and also helps with subsequent weedingoperations. Lining out carefully also pays dividendsfor all subsequent work (and supervision of work).It is also important to prepare good planting pits sothat the young seedlings get the best start possible.Pits should be a minimum of 20cm in diameter,cultivated to a depth of 20cm. The pits shouldnot be prepared too long in advance of plantingotherwise the soil can compact again. For furtherdetails, refer SPGS Plantation Guideline No. 14 – LandPreparation.Excellent land preparation and weeding are evident here at Busoga Forest Co. Ltd’s 2006 PCH planting. High stocking anduniformity have been achieved to give this plantation the best possible start.
9. Pre-Plant Weeding See Section 13.10. Timing of PlantingThe same rule applies for all plantation species:namely, plant as early as possible in the rainyseason. This gives the young trees the maximumchance of establishing themselves well before theonset of the hot, dry period that follows each rainyseason in Uganda. Normal (‘dry’) planting canusually take place when >50mm of rain has beenreceived – but this depends on a number of sitespecificfactors and the site must be checked forsoil moisture down to at least 25mm depth beforedeciding to plant.Depending on the region (and the season), thebest times to plant are usually early in either of thetwo rainy seasons experienced in most of the mainplantation regions in Uganda (normally March/Apriland Sept/Oct). The use of super-absorbants (e.g.Aqua-Soil) can also extend the planting time.11. Beating Up Always plan to raise (or order) up to 15% extra plantsto replace the failures from the initial planting.Preferably within two weeks of the initial planting,carry out a quick survival check by counting thefailures in a sample number of lines. Generally if thesurvival is below 90% (i.e. over 10% deaths), blankingis recommended. In the blanking operation it isimportant to use the same seedling stock that wasused for the original planting. Late blanking andusing different seed stock from the original plantingare the main causes of variability in Ugandanplantations. For further details refer to SPGS PlantationGuideline No. 23 – Planting & Beating Up.Blanking in season following the initial plantingis not recommended except in exceptionalcircumstances, as it will inevitably lead tovariability in the plantation.12. FertilisingIt has generally not been common practise tofertilise pine crops in many tropical or sub-tropicalcountries. South African research, however, hasshown sustained response of pines to P (Phosphorus)applications on some sites. In Queensland, Australia,fertilisers have produced a very significant responsein conjunction with site cultivation but these are verypoor (infertile) sites compared to most of Uganda.Specific sites in Madagascar and Nigeria have also The term beating up refers to the replacementof failures: it is also known as infilling or blanking– depending on where you are from!A high quality PCH seedling (within the SPGS recommendedsize limits 15-25mm) just planted onto well prepared (andweeded) soil.shown good responses to fertiliser but it is highlydependent on the site’s nutrient status. At thisstage in Uganda, however, we do not recommendfertilising pines in Uganda, until research proves it tobe worthwhile.13. WeedingThere is no point wasting time and money onpreparing the planting site to a high standard,planting high quality seedlings and then neglectingweeding – and yet this is exactly what many treeplanters in Uganda are doing!As emphasised throughout this series of PlantationGuidelines, weed control starts well before planting.The aim is to control problem weeds beforeplanting and then to keep any subsequent weedsto a minimum. Where there is a predominanceof tough, perennial grasses and tall broadleavedweeds, for example, we recommend a pre-plantspray with Glyphosate, carefully timed to minimizethe period between spraying and planting.Following planting, a manual spot (or ring) weedis generally recommended for all pine species,to minimise competition and ensure good growthof the trees. The aim of this operation is to create
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Guideline No.12 - Gr.. - SPGS

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