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Seed, Nursery Practice and Establishment
Seed, Nursery Practice and Establishment
S E E D, N U R S E RY P R AC T I C E
A N D E S TA B L I S H M E N T
J.C. Doran
E X P E R I M E N TA L SEED PROCUREMENT
P L A N N I N G A N D L AYO U T The availability of authentic, well-documented seed is a
Practically all phases of the domestication process are critical factor in all stages of species and provenance
represented in the work that is taking place on the testing. The Australian Tree Seed Centre (ATSC) of
species described in this book. At one end of the CSIRO Forestry and Forest Products, Canberra collects
process, seed collections for first-stage species’ elimi- and supplies high quality seed of Australia’s woody flora,
nation trials of little-known species have still to be with special emphasis on range-wide provenance collec-
planned (e.g. with some of the Acacia and Terminalia tions and lots from widely-spaced individual trees for
spp.). At the other end work incorporating conven- research purposes. Currently seed from more than 1200
tional (e.g. with Eucalyptus camaldulensis in Thailand) species, mainly of Australian origin, is held in store.
and advanced breeding (e.g. with Acacia mangium in Most species described in this book are well represented.
Malaysia) methodologies is in progress. New collections to obtain sufficient provenances for
The phase reached in the domestication process first-stage trials of those species not in the seed bank are
will influence the choice of design for the trial, the type planned.
and number of seedlots represented, the number of Researchers wishing to procure seed should first
seedlings to be included in each experimental plot and provide basic information about objectives and the
trial duration. A suitable trial site needs to be chosen. physical and environmental conditions at their planting
The design must use blocking to accommodate site site(s). Notes to facilitate this task are given in Appendix
heterogeneity, and appropriate randomisation must be 1. The ATSC in consultation with the researcher will
incorporated. prepare a short list of species and provenances for trial,
It is only after these decisions are made that and provide the required seedlots with accompanying
seedling numbers can be calculated and seed requested documentation on origin (source name, latitude,
1
longitude, and altitude), number of mother trees in sowing. A few Acacia species such as A. cambagei and
each collection and seed viability. It is recommended A. harpophylla have a soft seedcoat and pretreatment is
that researchers contact the ATSC at least three unnecessary or may be lethal.
months in advance of their proposed sowing date to Within many legume seedlots, not all the seeds
ensure timely arrival of seed. are equally ‘hard’. The proportion of hard seed in a
sample depends on the environmental conditions
during the growth of the plant, the degree of matura-
S E E D C H A R AC T E R I S T I C S tion of the seed when collected and the length of the
Knowledge of the seed characteristics of individual storage period. Variation in hardseededness will occur
species is important if trees are to be raised efficiently within a sample, between samples of the same species,
from seed. The plant propagator must know the and between species. This makes it impossible to
number of plants to expect from a given weight or prescribe a standard presowing treatment that will be
number of seeds, and appropriate methods to make optimal for all seeds. With most techniques in common
every viable seed germinate as quickly as possible. usage there is a danger of injury to the embryos of some
Data on seed viability, treatments to break seeds. Two techniques commonly employed for
dormancy, recommended laboratory germination temper- breaking seedcoat dormancy are described below under
atures and typical periods in the nursery to reach ‘Conditions for Germination’.
plantable size are given in Table 4.1 for most of the The storage of seed of most of the legumes
selected species. The information is based mainly on seed included in this book presents few problems by virtue
testing records of the Australian Tree Seed Centre, some of their hard seedcoat. The recommended treatment is
of which have been published previously, e.g. Boland et al. to store them dry in airtight containers in a cool,
(1980); Doran et al. (1983); Turnbull and Martensz secure location. Soft-coated species require more
(1982) and Turnbull and Doran (1987), but most are attention to storage conditions to maintain viability.
taken from internal files. Figures for some species are Acacia harpophylla, for example, must be kept in airtight
based on only a small number of tests but, used with containers at –20°C (Coaldrake 1971). If necessary,
discretion, they can be a useful guide until more compre- seed that has undergone presowing treatment can be
hensive data are available. A summary of the more impor- safely stored for at least short periods (e.g. 1 year) if
tant attributes of seed of individual genera is given below. kept cool and dry.
Legumes Myrtaceae
Species of the leguminous genera Acacia, Albizia, The myrtaceous genera Asteromyrtus, Eucalyptus,
Cassia, Dendrolobium, Lysiphyllum, Paraserianthes and Lophostemon, Melaleuca, Neofabricia, Syncarpia, and
Sesbania dominate Table 4.1. Their seeds are extremely Syzygium are the next largest group of species given in
variable in size, shape and weight; even within a species Table 4.1.
marked differences can occur. The range in viability
of the species given is 1194 germinants per 10 g for Asteromyrtus, Eucalyptus, Lophostemon, Melaleuca,
A. mangium from Indonesia to less than 20 germinants Neofabricia and Syncarpia
per 10 g for Dendrolobium umbellatum. Seed of these genera is usually stored and sown as a
The seedcoat of many legumes is hard and mixture of viable seed and chaff (mainly unfertilised
impervious to water. This causes seed dormancy so ovules) that are difficult to separate in many species.
that germination of a seedlot may extend over months Some features of their seedlots are the very small size of
or years. In order to propagate this seed efficiently in the seed of most species, the high proportion of chaff
the nursery some form of presowing treatment is (from 80 to 97% by weight for the eucalypts), and the
needed to permit water absorption through the seed- similarity in size, shape and colour of the chaff and
coat and ensure not only a high final germination viable seed of many species. Seed of the species in Table
percentage but rapid and uniform germination after 4.1 germinate readily (5–20 days) without presowing
A. longispicata 3 876 79 C or E 25 5, 21 - 1
A. macdonnelliensis (no data available)
A. maconochieana 2 410 78 J 25 4, 21 3-4 1 (high proportion
of soft seeds)
A. maidenii 4 582 82 C or E 20; 25 3, 21 - 1
A. mangium Aust/
PNG 231 636 ±181 79 C or E 25; 30 6, 35 3 1
A. mangium Indonesia 12 1 194 ±137 86 C or E 25 8, 17 - 1
A. mearnsii 123 719 ±185 82 C or E 25 5, 21 - 1
A. melanoxylon 53 640 ±287 75 C or G 25; 30 3, 35 - 1
A. monticola 6 238 75 C or E 25; 30 3, 37 2-3 1
A. murrayana 5 199 66 C or E 25 4, 21 3-4 1
A. neriifolia 3 223 70 C or E 25 4, 25 - 1
A. oraria 7 427 49 C or E 25 5, 26 4 1
A. orites 1 853 60 C or E 25 4, 21 - 1
A. pachycarpa 3 49 74 C or E 25 3, 21 - 1
A. pendula 8 292 68 C or E 25 5, 21 3 1
A. platycarpa 7 43 75 C or E 25 4, 30 4 1
A. plectocarpa 13 598 ±223 80 C or E 30 4, 21 3 1
A. podalyriifolia 2 280 88 D or E 25 6, 28 2-3 1
A. polystachya 8 601 80 C or E 25; 30 5, 21 3 1
A. pruinocarpa 3 262 82 C or D 25 3, 21 4 1
A. rothii 4 33 52 C or E 30 4, 21 2-3 1
A. salicina 18 152 ±48 69 C or D 25 4, 31 3 1
A. saligna 26 457 ±136 74 C or E 15 5, 35 - 1
A. sclerosperma 9 33 95 C or E 25 5, 25 3 1
A. shirleyi 2 592 56 C or E 25 5, 25 3–4 1
A. silvestris 5 374 73 C or E 25 5, 25 - 1
A. simsii 6 817 60 C or E 30 3, 21 3 1
A. stenophylla 9 106 73 C or G 25 3, 25 3 1
A. stipuligera 13 808 ±88 85 C or E 25 5, 21 - 1
A. tephrina 1 233 40 C or E 25 5, 21 - 1
A. torulosa 24 267 ±143 80 C or E 25 5, 21 4 1
A. trachycarpa 6 121 68 C or E 25 5, 39 - 1
A. trachyphloia 5 678 63 C or E 25 4, 25 - 1
A. tumida 52 152 ±50 77 C or E 25 4, 30 2–3 1
A. victoriae 30 251 ±83 76 C or E 25 3, 21 2–3 1
A. xiphophylla 4 135 80 C 25 4, 11 - 1
Albizia lebbeck 70 70 C;D;H 25 14 2, 7
A. procera 4 166 63 E 25 3, 16 3–4 1
Allocasuarina campestris 6 3463 76 A 20; 25 8, 30 - 1
A. decaisneana 9 340 55 A 30; 35 4, 28 - 1
A. littoralis 13 2590 ±929 A 25; 30 5, 28 - 1
A. luehmannii 4 1576 A 25 6, 21 - 1
Alphitonia excelsa 7 45 27 C; D; H 25; 30 6, 21 3–4 1
A. petriei 1 684 60 C or E 25 4, 16 - 1
Alstonia scholaris (no data available)
Asteromyrtus brassii 5 1710 A 25 5, 14 - 1
A. symphyocarpa 9 3118 A 25 5, 14 - 1
Atalaya hemiglauca 4 108 64 C 25 7, 21 3–4 1
continued over
Table 4.2. Some examples of high-impact black polythene container sizes for the mass production of seedlings of
Australian species.
Polythene Manufacturing size Filled size Total volume Genera Time to reach plant-
thickness diam. length diam. length when filled commonly able size (months)/ Location
(µ) Type (mm) (mm) (mm) (mm) (cm3) grown (size at planting) (reference)
50 Tube 100 200 65 160 547 Acacia, Callistemon, 3-5/ (up to 50 cm) Australia
Casuarina, Eucalyptus, (Grossbechler
Leptosperum & Melaleuca 1982)
50 Bag 70 a 185 a 50–70 160–200 314–770 Acacia 5/ (30–60 cm) Malaysia
(NAS 1983)
50 Bag 95 235 95 a 150 a 1063 a Casuarina 5/ (30–60 cm) India
(Kondas 1983)
50 Bag 68 a 205 a 50.8 177 359 Eucalyptus 12/ (100 cm) Pakistan
(Qadri 1983)
50 Tube 57 178 50.8 165 334 Eucalyptus 3–5/ (30 cm) Nepal
a Estimated by author.
Requests for seed should be sent to: From (give full postal address for seed despatch)
Officer-in-Charge, Australian Tree Seed Centre ...............................................................................................
CSIRO Forestry and Forest Products ...............................................................................................
P.O. Box E4008, Kingston ...............................................................................................
Canberra, ACT. 2604, AUSTRALIA. ...............................................................................................
Tel (Aust. 06) (Internat + 616) 281 8211 ...............................................................................................
Fax (Aust. 06) (Internat + 616) 281 8266 ...............................................................................................
email tim.vercoe@ffp.for.csiro.au ...............................................................................................
Objectives
Agroforestry Pulp Amenity
Fodder Fuelwood Posts and poles
Shade and shelter Soil conservation Sawn timber
Other
Indicate species of special interest. ........................................................................................................................................
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Indicate results if Australian species have already been tested on the areas concerned, or similiar sites nearby.................
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Project size
Experimental design ..............................................................................................................................................................
Proposed number of trial sites ............................................. Spacing .................................................................................
Area of each trial in hectares .................................................................................................................................................
Approximate number of plants required from each seedlot .................................................................................................
.................................................................................................................................................................................................
.................................................................................................................................................................................................
Arrangements for provision of import permits, if required for research seed ...................................................................................................
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28 Seed, Nursery Practice and Establishment
2. Site Details
Climate
Nearest representative weather station
Name .........................................................................................................................................................................................
Latitude: o '(N/S) Longitude o '(E/W) Altitude (m)
Rainfall regime
Summer Uniform
Winter Bimodal .........................................................
Mean annual rainfall .........................................................................(mm)
Dry season (< 40 mm/month) ....................................................(months)
Mean rainfall in the driest quarter ....................................................(mm)
Temperature
Mean annual (°C) Mean daily min. of coldest month (°C)
Absolute minimum (°C) Mean daily max. of hottest month (°C)
Number of frosts (days/year)
Topography
Flat Hollow Gentle
Ridge top Intermediate Steep
Aspect ..........................
Soil
Parent material ...................................................................................................................................................................
Texture .................................................................................................................................................................................
Depth to water table, Colour, Stoniness .......................................................................................................................
Drainage (free draining, waterlogged etc) ....................................................................................................................
pH very acid (< 4.5) Neutral (6.0–7.0) Very alkaline ( > 9.0)
Acid (4.5–6.0) Alkaline (> 7.0)
Salinity (if applicable) .............................................