Effects of Cutting Length, Orientation and Planting Depth on Early Willow Shoot Establishment
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Effects of Cutting Length, Orientation and Planting Depth on Early Willow Shoot Establishment Stina Edelfeldt & Anneli Lundkvist & Johannes Forkman & Theo Verwijst
# Springer Science+Business Media New York 2014
Abstract To assess the effects of different planting systems on early performance (survival, shoot emergence time, number of shoots, maximum shoot height and biomass shoot production) of willow, cuttings of varying lengths were planted horizontally at different depths and compared with vertically planted cuttings. Cutting lengths of (i) 25–200 cm and (ii) 7–21 cm were studied in a field experiment and in a box experiment, respectively. Shorter cuttings planted deeper had a lower survival rate and emerged a few days later compared to longer cuttings planted shallower. The performance was considerably higher at the apical part of the cuttings, regardless of cutting length. Longer cuttings planted shallow had a higher performance. Vertically planted cuttings produced more biomass and shoots per length unit than horizontally planted cuttings. We conclude that planting systems based on the use of longer horizontally planted cuttings would probably lead to an uneven establishment and gaps in the stand caused by apical dominance. Also, to achieve the same performance, the need of planting material would be considerably higher compared to systems with vertically planted cuttings. To obtain a fast and more even early establishment of willows, we recommend the use of vertically planted cuttings with a length of at least 20 cm. If cuttings are planted horizontally, they should not be planted deeper than 5 cm.
Keywords Billets . Horizontal planting . Lay-flat . Salix . Short rotation coppice . Vertical planting
S. Edelfeldt (*) : A. Lundkvist : J. Forkman : T. Verwijst Department of Crop Production Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, P.O. Box 7043, SE-750 07 Uppsala, Sweden e-mail: [email protected]
Introduction Establishment of willow stands, particularly during the first few months, has a large impact on their future biomass production. In this context, a good establishment is characterized by large shoots, a high number of shoots and a low variability in shoot size per unit area. Large shoots have higher survival expectancy and a higher expected biomass production capacity [1]. Weeds may have strong negative effects on survival and early biomass production [2], and a high abundance of weeds is an important explanation for disappointment among the crop among farmers [3]. An early coverage of the ground by producing many and large shoots reduces the competition from weeds. Early variation in plant size, either caused by small-scale differences in the environment or by differences in cutting quality, enlarges over time and leads to size hierarchies, mortality and gaps in the stand [4, 5], which are preserved during consecutive harvests [6]. Commercial willow planting is commonly performed by specialized planting machines, producing about 20 cm long cuttings, using long 1-year old shoots (rod
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