Cedar Planting Techniques and Management
This article introduces the experience in cedar planting techniques, management, and seedling raising methods, which are great tips worth collecting!
Cultivation Techniques and Management Measures for Fast-Growing and High-Yield Cedar Forests
Huang Bin
The Jiangmen Branch of Beijiang River Forest Farm has deeply studied and implemented the major strategic thoughts proposed by the CPC's 19th National Congress, completed the afforestation tasks assigned by the superior, strengthened management, deepened reforms, and earnestly implemented them. In 2019, it completed a total of 112.60 hm2 of fast-growing and high-yield afforestation (including 90.80 hm2 of pure cedar forest, 6.53 hm2 of pure nanmu forest, 6.80 hm2 of mixed cedar and xiangxiang forest, and 8.47 hm2 of mixed cedar and nanmu forest). In the early stage of afforestation, the forest farm cleaned up the afforestation site, including mowing grass on 8.33 hm2, cutting shrubs on 27.40 hm2, opening 35.8 km of firelines on the mountain, and burning the mountain on 102.00 hm2. The area for land preparation was 18.53 hm2 for open ditches and 94.07 hm2 for hidden ditches. After the spring inspection by the superior, the survival rate of the trees was 98%. The following is a summary of the experience in planting cedar.
1 Techniques for Fast-Growing and High-Yield Cedar Cultivation
1.1 Cedar Seed Selection
Different types of cedar trees require different technical points during planting and cultivation. It is necessary to select appropriate varieties based on the planting environment and the growth habits of the cedar trees. To ensure that the planting of cedar forests achieves fast growth and high yield, the following two points should be noted in the process of selecting cedar varieties: 1) Select seeds that are full and plump, as these seeds germinate and grow faster; 2) Seeds also have heredity, so it is necessary to select cedar seeds that are resistant to diseases and pests. Seed selection is the most critical link in the process of planting cedar, and only by doing a good job in seed selection can the incidence of diseases and pests be greatly reduced in the later stage, ensuring fast and high-yield planting of cedar.
1.2 Seed Pretreatment
After selecting the cedar seeds, pretreatment of the seeds is required. First, soak the seeds in warm water for 24 hours, then dry them in the sun; use bleaching powder to disinfect the seeds thoroughly to reduce diseases and pests; after disinfection, dry them again and collect the well-dried seeds.
1.3 Selecting an Appropriate Planting Area
When selecting a planting site, it is necessary to choose a forest land with gentle terrain and no wind to promote seedling growth and facilitate later irrigation. In addition, it is necessary to choose areas with convenient transportation to facilitate later management of the planted forest land. Cedars have the characteristics of moisture-loving and drought-disliking, so when selecting planting sites, it is necessary to choose soil that is loose, fertile, and acidic. In the early stage of seedling raising, special attention should be paid to the drainage and irrigation of the planting site.
1.4 Land Preparation and Trench Planting
In the process of clearing the forest land, the Jiangmen Branch of the Beijiang River Forest Farm strictly followed the requirements of the superior by cutting all weeds and shrubs within the planned planting area to a height of 10 cm from the ground and pruning the branches of large and medium trees after cutting them down. A 10 m wide fireline was opened outside the planned planting area and flammable materials were cleared from the fireline. The mountain was burned according to relevant regulations with sufficient personnel organized for burning and defense, burning all weeds and shrubs within the planned planting area. The trenching work was divided into open trenching and hidden trenching. Hidden trenches were dug at a horizontal spacing of 2 m × 2 m, starting from the top of the mountain and digging downwards, with specifications of 60 cm long, 50 cm wide, and 25 cm deep. First, raise the lower side of the trench to block the soil, then loosen and crush the soil inside the trench, keeping the topsoil inside the trench and removing the grass roots and leveling the trench surface. After digging the open trenches, apply base fertilizer and return the topsoil, applying 0.5 kg of compound fertilizer per trench, mixing the fertilizer and topsoil thoroughly and placing it at the bottom of the trench, then crushing the topsoil above the trench and removing stones and tree roots before filling the open trench and planting. One-year-old first and second-class seedlings were selected, the roots were dipped in yellow mud slurry, and when planting, the roots should be spread out, the seedlings should be upright, planted properly deep, first covering the roots with moist fine soil and pressing them down, then covering the soil layer by layer, pressing down until the seedlings cannot be lifted with two fingers, and a shallow layer of loose soil was covered on the trench surface, with the soil above the surface. The planting in hidden trenches is similar to that in open trenches.
According to the requirements of the superior, in 2019, the Jiangmen Branch of the Beijiang River Forest Farm completed comprehensive weeding of young forests twice, covering an area of 225.20 hm2 (the first time from April to May and the second time from August to September), completely removing weeds, digging out grass roots and turning them over to dry, removing miscellaneous shrubs, removing the germination of old cedar seedlings and young tree seedlings, pruning and raising young trees, and not covering the young cedar trees with the weeded grass and shrubs after weeding, leaving no edges or gaps in the construction area. At the same time, it completed the maintenance of forest facility firelines for 24.48 km, forest road maintenance for 29.07 km, and forest highway maintenance for 3.40 km.
2 Cedar Raising Management
Fast-growing and high-yield planting of cedar requires corresponding management measures. Only standard cedar trees have market value. Therefore, it is necessary to strictly follow planting requirements during the planting process, regularly weed and fertilize the cedar forest, do a good job in pest control, and carry out reasonable thinning. Only by strictly managing the cedar forest can fast and high-yield results be achieved.
2.1 Doing a Good Job in Weeding and Loosening the Soil
In the process of cedar raising management, in order to ensure the healthy growth of cedar, it is necessary to do a good job in removing weeds and loosening the soil in the forest. 1) In the early stage of seedling growth, effectively remove the surrounding weeds without damaging the roots of the cedar. 2) To ensure that the cedar can obtain sufficient nutrients during planting, all weeds and shrubs higher than 10 cm above the ground in the forest should be completely removed to ensure that there is no coverage of young trees by weeds and shrubs; for adult trees, pruning should be carried out regularly. 3) In terms of weeding methods, a combination of manual and mechanical methods can be used to ensure the efficiency of weeding and avoid damage to the surrounding vegetation environment.
2.2 Fertilization
To ensure rapid growth of cedar, sufficient nutrient supply is required during the growing period. Fertilization is divided into base fertilizer and topdressing. Fertilization needs to consider many factors such as season and current soil fertility. Base fertilizer is applied in the planting holes, mixing the soil and fertilizer in the planting holes thoroughly and covering them with a layer of soil to prevent the roots of the cedar from coming into direct contact with the fertilizer. Topdressing should consider the actual growth situation of the cedar and can be carried out at the same time as weeding in the second year after planting.
2.3 Pest and Disease Control
Pest and disease control is a key task in cedar raising management, especially in adverse weather conditions. Once pests and diseases occur in the forest, the economic benefits of cedar will be greatly reduced. Therefore, managers should regularly observe and record the trees during the growth of cedar to detect pests and diseases in a timely manner and adopt scientific methods for control. When pests and diseases are found, they should be dealt with promptly to avoid a large number of cedar trees becoming infected. Only by strengthening the control of pests and diseases can the yield and quality of cedar be ensured. In addition, regular spraying and pruning should be carried out to ensure the ventilation in the forest and reduce the probability of pests and diseases occurring.
2.4 Reasonable Thinning
Reasonable thinning can lead to good overall growth trends of cedar and also improve the quality of cedar, providing guarantees for the growth of cedar. 1) Pay attention to the timing of thinning, usually the first thinning is carried out in the fifth year of planting, and then every 4 years thereafter. The interval between two thinnings should not be too short to ensure that the growth of cedar can meet expectations. 2) Pay attention to controlling the intensity of thinning, and thinning should not be excessive. The first thinning can remove 25% of the total yield, and subsequent thinnings should be controlled at around 10%. When thinning, it is necessary to clean up the weeds in the forest to ensure that the cedar is not squeezed by weeds and shrubs and has sufficient growing space.
3 Conclusion
In summary, as a special economic tree species, cedar has an important position in China's current forestry development. Although the Jiangmen Branch of the Beijiang River Forest Farm has accumulated certain experiences in the fast-growing forest cultivation and management of cedar economic tree species, there is still the mindset of "waiting, relying, and demanding" in personnel management, with a "swarm" phenomenon in work attendance; in financial management, there is a delay in workers receiving their labor remuneration after completing the production tasks of the forest farm; there are insufficient construction management and supervision in afforestation production and timber production, making it difficult to find labor and increasing the difficulty of transferring workers to safe areas due to natural factors such as weather; and in the work of the Party committee, there is insufficient political theory learning, less centralized learning time for workers, inadequate ideological work, and insufficient close ties between the Party and the masses.
Therefore, in the future, the forest farm needs to strengthen the political theory learning of employees, seriously handle production safety, forest fire prevention, and resource management; further improve the relationship between the farm and the masses to make it harmonious; further improve the infrastructure construction in the forest area; and further strengthen the work responsibility of employees, enhancing their sense of responsibility and allowing them to fully utilize their initiative in work. In this way, the cultivation and management of cedar in the forest farm can be more efficient, ensuring the sustainable supply of cedar timber in China.
The detailed content about cedar planting techniques and management, as well as seedling raising methods, is mentioned above, hoping it can be helpful to you!