Container Tree Nursery Manuals

Volume 6: Seedling Propagation

USDA Forest Service, Agricultural Handbook 674. 1999

Thomas Landis, Richard Tinus, Stephen McDonald and James Barnett

[Volume 1] [Volume 2] [Volume 3] [Volume 4] [Volume 5] [Volume 6]

In this volume, the authors review the sequence or processes and operations used to propagate container seedlings. Successful nursery management begins with planning and crop planning is one of the most important, yet often neglected, aspects of seedling culture.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1-Crop Planning Pages 3-34

• Introduction
• Seedling Growth and Development
• Constructing a Propagation Protocol
• Summary
• References

Chapter 2-Seed Propagation Pages 35-92

• Introduction
• Obtaining High-Quality Seeds
• Seed Testing
• Seed Storage
• Presowing Treatments to Overcome Seed Dormancy
• Presowing Treatments to Facilitate Seed Handling
• Seed Cleansing and Disinfection
• Seed Sowing
• Seed Coverings
• Summary
• Literature Cited

Chapter 3-Vegetative Propagation Pages 93-124

• Introduction
• Stem Cuttings
• Root Cuttings
• Layering
• Division
• Grafting
• Micropropagation
• Summary
• Literature Cited

Chapter 4-Seedling Development: The Establishment, Rapid Growth, and Hardening Phases Pages 125-163

• Introduction
• The Establishment Phase
• The Rapid Growth Phase
• The Hardening Phase
• Summary
• Literature Cited

Index of Common and Scientific Names, Pages 164-167

The manual is based on the best current knowledge on container tree nursery management and should be used as a general reference. Recommendations were made using the best information available at the time and are, therefore, subject to revision as more information becomes available. Much of the information in this manual was developed for western and southern conifer seedlings. Although the authors attempted to include information for species from other geographic areas, because of the wide variation in individual species responses, contain nursery managers will need to adapt these principles and procedures to their own nursery situation.