How to select oak seeds? What are the seedling raising methods?
Oak is a general term for plants in the Fagaceae family. It has a tall tree form and offers excellent ornamental and ecological value. In addition, oak is also one of the most important broadleaf trees in our country, and it is distributed in most provinces and cities across the country. As urban and rural greening construction in our country continues to increase demand for high-quality seedlings, oak cultivation has very good promotional value. So during cultivation, how should oak seeds be selected? And what are the seedling raising methods? Let's learn about them together.
How to select oak seeds?
For planting oak, seed selection is also extremely important. Only by sowing high-quality seeds can there be a better germination effect. Therefore, during seed selection, try to choose plump, top-quality seeds and carry out germination promotion treatment. In addition, regarding varieties, its species range from the cold temperate zone, temperate zone, warm temperate zone all the way to the subtropical zone. Our country has about 140 or more species, such as sawtooth oak, Mongolian oak, alpine oak, ring-cupped oak, and so on. Just suit the species to the local conditions.
What are the seedling raising methods?
1. Seed treatment
Before planting, it is best to first wash the seeds in clean water to remove surface impurities, then treat them with a small amount of gibberellin, and dry them in a well-ventilated environment for air-drying.
2. Sowing time
Oak seeds are most suitably sown in spring in March and April, because oak fruits are relatively large, so the covering soil layer is thick and a certain amount of humidity and temperature is needed. Generally, keep them in a moist soil layer 1 cm deep. When the weather is not especially dry, there is no need to irrigate every day.
3. Sowing and seedling raising
Choose a nursery site with flat terrain, loose soil, and good drainage. Combined with land preparation and bed building, apply 3000 kg of base fertilizer per 666.7 sq m, 200 kg of compound fertilizer, and 1-2 kg of carbofuran to kill underground pests. Use the dibbling method and open sowing furrows at a row spacing of 20-30 cm.
In addition to sowing and seedling raising, oak seeds can also be raised by methods such as container seedling raising and grafting.
4. Seedling stage management
After oak sowing, the embryo buds emerge from the ground in 20-40 days. Some tree species emerge later; for example, water oak needs 60 days. During this period, be sure to pay attention to drought-resistant watering and keep the soil loose and moist. If plastic film is used to seal and retain moisture, when the midday temperature on a sunny day exceeds 35-40 degrees C, be careful to uncover the film for ventilation.
To improve the growing environment conditions of seedlings, weeding in the nursery must be done thoroughly. Combined with weeding, appropriate deep loosening of the soil can be carried out. Weeding and soil loosening throughout the year should be no fewer than 5-6 times. In June and July, appropriately apply additional nitrogen fertilizer, with an application amount of 7-8 kg/666.7 sq m, topdressing 2-3 times.
Oak seedlings have a taproot system, with a well-developed main root and very few lateral roots and fibrous roots, which often affects the survival rate of transplanting. Therefore, root cutting is the key to promoting lateral root growth of seedlings and cultivating high-quality oak seedlings. The root cutting time is from late June to early July, choose an overcast day, use a sharp iron shovel, and at 8-10 cm from the seedling root collar between seedling rows, cut diagonally at a 45-degree angle to sever the main root of the seedling. The root cutting depth is 8-10 cm.
The benefits of planting oak are many-sided. It can cultivate increasingly scarce high-grade timber resources, provide industrial raw materials, and also improve our country's forest ecosystem. Therefore, if growers want to improve planting benefits, in addition to mastering the above seedling raising work, the management of adult trees after oak seedlings have grown also needs to be properly implemented.
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