Focus on birch planting and plant size in northern Sweden

The increased interest in birch and investments in birch seed orchards by Skogforsk and several forest companies can be expected to result in an increased quantity of Swedish refined seed material in the coming years. Therefore, the forest sector needs increased knowledge about which seedlings should be produced from the seed material and when they should be planted.

Smaller plants can save money

The research project, led by Felica Dahlgren Lidman, researcher in silviculture at Skogforsk in Sävar, is conducted in collaboration with Trees For and complements existing field experiments.

"Our hypothesis is that smaller birch seedlings of a more practical size could be used in the future”, Felicia Dahlgren Lidman predicts.

A smaller birch seedling, similar in size of the current pine and spruce seedlings, could be planted using existing planting tubes and be less bulky during handling and transportation, potentially leading to lower planting costs. A shorter storage time in the nursery, resulting from planting in the autumn the same year as seeding, could also contribute to reduced costs.

Seeding and planting in northern Sweden

The aim of the study is to investigate how different pot sizes and seeding times in the nursery will affect the survival and growth of birch seedlings, as well as whether spring or autumn is the best time for planting. If the seeding could be done in the spring and the plants could be planted already the same autumn, large savings could be made as a result of the reduced need for winter storage.

The seedlings will be produced in the nursery at Skogforsk in Sävar in the spring of 2024 and planted in Västerbotten, half of them in the early autumn the same year and half of them in the spring of 2025. The hope is that the results could lead to a more efficient production chain and at the same time keep the price down for the birch seedlings.