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Seedlings produced with expert skills and technical know-how

Date: 2018.11.12

NordGen Forest work in close cooperation with its Forest Regeneration Council. In the council we can find representatives from academia, government authorities and private companies. They all aim at promoting the Nordic cooperation and creating strong, resilient and genetically diverse forests in the Nordic countries. One of the members in NordGen Forest Regeneration Council is Ellinor Edvardsson, who works at Holmen Skog. In the following article, she gives us an unique insight to how seedlings are produced in Sweden.

Text and photo: Ellinor Edvardsson

Planting new forest is a fundamental part of the forestry cycle. Approximately 375 million seedlings are put in Swedish soils every year. These seedlings are produced in nurseries spread across the country. By combining hi-tech with solid science and nursery management expertise, it is possible to produce seedlings of high quality in a cost-effective way. This saves both nursery space and the environment and at the same time reduces the effects of seasonal variation. This is what Holmen Skog did in their nursery in Friggesund.

Plant growth chamber

Holmen Skog has two forest nurseries and produces about 35 million plants every year. In one of these nurseries, Friggesund in mid-Sweden, seedlings are not just produced in a traditional way but since 2012 also in a large climate-controlled plant growth chamber. A plant growth chamber has many advantages over a traditional greenhouse. The 100 % control of the environment allows for exact regulation of temperature, humidity, light intensity and day length. This in turn allows for good conditions for the production of high quality and even sized seedlings. The light consists of LED light with optimal wavelengths combined with some UV light.

Allows more seedlings

The large plant growth chamber also allows more seedlings per production cycle. This is because the seedlings are grown very densely in trays and the chamber has 8 floors for the production, compared to just one floor in a traditional greenhouse. The trays move automatically to a special water / fertilizer zone when this is needed. When seedlings are about 4-6 weeks, they are moved (transplanted) to larger containers for further growth immediately or after a period of rest, depending on the time of the year. A bonus effect of this plant growth chamber is that it releases no greenhouse gas from the heating system as no fossil fuel is used.

Both technical know-how and expert skills

One of the challenges in the management of this hi-tech forest plant production is that staff must have not only expert skills in classical nursery management but they also need hi-tech know-how. It is extremely important that the seedlings are exposed exactly to the correct light regime, but also proper water and nutrition supply are important of course. As a manager you need to be innovative. You need to adapt and fine-tune the system in order to fit the high-tech and the traditional production stages together. The final goal, as always, is to produce healthy and well-growing plants at the right time for delivery.