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Planting of Forest Seedlings for the New Season has Started in LVM Nurseries

Despite the winter not going away, as of 8 March, in the largest tree nurseries of JSC “Latvia’s State Forests” (LVM) – Mazsili, Strenči, Mežvidi, Podiņi – the sowing of forest seedlings has gradually started.  In Mazsili, Strenči and Mežvidi Nurseries, pine is sown as the first rotation to grow pine container seedlings, while in Podiņi Nursery – according to the specifics of the nursery – spruce is sown to grow spruce seedlings with an improved root system.

“Sowing takes place in heated greenhouses. To use them as effectively as possible, sowing is planned in three rounds or rotations. In the second and third rotation, sometimes also in the fourth rotation, spruce, pine, birch, and black alder are sown according to the planned volumes,” says Laima Zvejniece, Executive Director of Production at LVM Sēklas un stādi.

With high-precision sowing machines, seeds are sown in specially designed cassettes filled with a specially prepared substrate. When the cassettes are sown, they are immediately transferred to greenhouses for germination. Later, when the seeds have sprouted and grown a little, the cassettes with the new seedlings will be moved to special outdoor landfills for propagation, and the greenhouse will be filled again with the seeds of the next cycle.

In the spring of 2023, LVM Sēklas un stādi will also increase the sowing volumes of deciduous trees, including birch and black alder with the seed selection category “improved” and “superior”, where the seeds are collected in specially designed seed plantations.

In parallel with the sowing work, the Mazsili Nursery is actively treating the seedlings with “Conniflex” protective agent against the damage of the pine weevil.

The sale of seedlings from freezers has started

Along with the start of sowing work, LVM Sēklas un stādi has also started selling seedlings to customers in Latvia and exporting seedlings to Scandinavia.

“The sale of pine and spruce seedlings is carried out within the framework of long-term contracts, but anyone who wants to plant, who plans to restore forest this spring, will have the opportunity to purchase the necessary number of seedlings,” says Laima Zvejniece.

In 2023, LVM tree nurseries plan to sell 61.9 million seedlings, and this is currently the largest offer for the Latvian private market, to grow the highest quality forest stand from selected seedling material.

The first seedlings reach their recipients from the seedling freezers, thus giving the customers the opportunity to gradually thaw the seedli

ngs and start planting when warmer weather arrives.“If a seedling is planted in the cool ground with a ball of still-frozen seedling roots, the needles, which begin to breathe intensively in the warm spring sun, do not receive the necessary strength from the roots and the needles burn in the sun. Be careful and keep in mind that seedlings are a living organism,” says the LVM plant expert.

The most intensive planting period lasts from mid-April to the end of May. Nursery freezers are most often shut down at the end of June, when the spring planting season ends. This time corresponds to the physiological growth activity of seedlings.