The “ Best” Seed Sources for Christmas Trees Chal Landgren

OSU Extension

A quick review of heritability

A practical look at selecting the best of what’s available. Remember, there is no “Perfect Source”- it always depends on availability, your definition of perfection and so on ….

Review research and collections in Turkey

Historical Trends

Phenotype(what we

see)

Genotype(what we can’t see)

Environment

= +

P = G E+

Heritability-(or if you cant pass it on– don’t worry

about it)

Genetics controls about a quarter of the variation we have to deal with

StrongerBud Break Time (0.9 - 1.0)Limb Size Cone Production

ModerateColor (0.2 - 0.3)Value (0.2 - 0.3)Height (0.2 – 0.4)Pest Resistance (0.10 – 0.4)

Getting What You Expect

Another Strategy

Every tree order will include 10 trees from the worse source we know!!!!

Genetics- is only part of a successful operation

Site - #1

Nursery/Stock Type/Storage - #2

Culture/skill - #3

Genetics- adds value

Weed Control- (improved trees die too)

Pests

Noble fir-What’s Available?

Noble fir

053- Stott Mtn

RF 15 (Elite), RF 1

053, 252, 452, 440

433 DK. Blue

PNWCTA Orchard Run

Elite

241-3 (Baw Faw)

Ask

In test- looks promising

#4 and #2 in 87 test

Good tress (and poor)

Don’t confuse the #’s!

A mix of good trees w/ pollen from 6 or 8

Ask

In testing- OK earlier

RFRF

Key Results-NF1996

What’s Good- Ht., Grade, CSNN

6X10 excellent!!

Dk sources slow, some had poor internodal bud fill, good color

Riley Sources good

2 BLM sources encouraging

R 10

D7

51-17-6

Family Ave Value % of Family>6 ft. Grade 1 +R6X 20.9$ 47%17-6 19.0$ 53%R15 18.6$ 45%11-3 18.6$ 51%16-1 18.2$ 38%31-8 18.1$ 35%D7 15.5$ 19%

D16 14.3$ 15%

Ave. 17.2$

Review of some Results

NF 2000

Top Ranked Examples

5X15, 51-8-10, 51-3-2 (Pictured)

NF 2000-Value by source-Ave

NF 2000

$0.0

$5.0

$10.0

$15.0

$20.0

$25.0

$30.0

Source

Ave

. $/tr

ee

New Area- Old trees

Finding 51-8-10 Climbing it

Site variation for noble fir- NF 2000

Same trees at each site

All “good” sites with great growers

Sites will catch up- yet time is money.

Noble fir Plots    

  Ht." Value

Site Ave Ave

A 92 $25

B 77 $18

C 81 $14

NF 2001

Best in This Trial 51-3-1 51-11-4 51-17-6 RF 5X8 51-12-7

Noble Fir Trials-NF 2002

Best in this trial 51-12-8 B4 RF 10X6 DNR 1927 51-11-5

Noble Fir Trials-NF 2004

•Testing 57 Sources

•Baw Faw (6), Weyco (8), Stott Mtn (19), Plum Ck. (9) Hostetler Orch (1), BLM (11), Misc

•Will need another orchard

NF 2004

Some General Lessons for Noble

Danish sources are slow and blue

Cascade sources have done poorly

Riley-Fanno area have been good

Edwards Butte ‘promising’

Nordmann fir-What’s Available?

Nordmann fir Nordmann fir Ambrolauri Ambrolauri-Tlugi Borjomi (Russia)

Ambrolauri- Tends to be slow growing, but later bud break

The “Turkish” Nordmann have generally been poor for quality.

Yayla means near timberline- avoid.

Grand fir-What’s Available?

Grand fir

Idaho

Clearwater

251, 675 (E. side OR. Cascades)

Grand fir- test information

Vernonia- 9th out of 22

S. Or and N. CA.- Avoid (frost and winter kill problems)

No test info from 675 seed zone (Mosier OK, Camus valley- frost damaged)

Clearwater- good

N. ID.- generally good.

Douglas-fir-What’s Available?

Douglas-fir 030, 041, 052, 053, 061,

251, 252, 262, 452 Vancouver Isl or-

Qualicum Powell River

Dallas Seed Orch.

Texada Isl.

Three #’s code- 0= coast, 2 E. side coast range, 4 W. side of Cascades

It is a large Isl. !!!

Smaller- some test info.

Mainland BC- good

Ask. Probably a mix

Cooks Bay- good, wide range of sites, slower overall.

Other DF Options

Improved-ask how?

Nehalem 251 Dallas Low

Lincoln NF

Forest trees-goals –Fast growth, wood quality.

Rhobdocline might be a problem- Good in PA.

Val 3Color Variation

Family #

Location/Source Value (std dev)

Bud break

Color

V3 Val 3 X 053 $11.80 (2.8) 3.8 3.7

138 Gillies Bay (Texada Isl.)

$11.30 (2.1) 2.9 4.5

133 Cooks Bay (Texada Isl.)

$11.10 (1.9) 2.2 4.5

136 Shelter Bay (Texada Isl.)

$10.90 (1.9) 2.2 4.6

137 Gillies Bay (Texada Isl.)

$10.60 (2.4) 2.2 4.8

135 Cooks Bay(Texada Isl.)

$10.40 (1.8) 2.2 4.9

         

Range   $11.80-$6.50 1.5-4.4 3.6-4.9

Douglas-fir Progeny Test

TI 139 Val 3

Other orchards and options

Needle LossScreening WSU

When planting an unproven source, remember the following-

Table 1. Comparison of desirable traits for an idealized natural-grown low density European and a medium to high density sheared American Christmas tree .

Trait Europe USA

Growth Slow Fast

Crown Density Low to Medium Medium to High

Internodal Branches Many Many

Crown Diameter Small Large

Branch AngleSlightly Above

HorizontalPreferences Vary

American Christmas Tree Journal. 1999. Vol. 43(2):4-11. by John Frampton and Craig McKinley

Reality CheckMost plantings are still seed zone or

provenance collections, so there will be wide variation in the planted field.

The “system” relies heavily on the honesty of all parties seed collector through nursery.

Never ask “do have source XYZ?” Ask--- “What do you have in species ABC?”

With developing orchard capacity more improved sources available.

Some “issues” to think aboutDo you know what consumers want now

from your trees?

How do we know what consumers will want in 20 years? Breeding trees takes time.

We may want to offer a wider range of sources with bio’s on each so growers can pick according to their customer needs

Finding information

Call the nursery

Ask other growers

Past issues of LO

Seed Zone Maps http://

www.silvaseed.com

Making your best guess Try to match

elevations (avoid high elev.)

Keep collection Lat. about the same as planting site or move N.

Be Clear About What You Want!

An Armchair visit to Turkey

Why go to Turkey?

Arrangements and Participants

Bud break variation & different shearing

Growing Nordmann & Turkish Fir

•Slow for first 2 years

•Only one growth flush/season

•Some sources have significant in-pointing branches and/or up- turned whorls.

•Buds clustered near outer 30% of branch- avoid “fat” trees early

Turkish fir-What’s Available?

Turkish fir Turkish fir Bolu Bolu-Kokez

Kokez has been a good source

Ankara-more than the capital

Every tree was a research project

Foliage difference in same area

What we know about each tree

DNA samples, color Cone size, maturity etc.

What we know about each tree

Average needle size Keepability

It’s always time for tea and fungus

The trees are not free from problems

Safranbolu- World Heritage City

Well used forests

Cones from the first sites

Collecting in Parks and much lower elevation

Trojan fir and the battle of Gallipoli

What’s Next ?

Turning seed into seedlings

Germ. Testing underway at WSU now.

113 Seedlots (100 from TK+10 Nordmann from DK, 3 local options)

30 trees/seedlot

2 planting sites in each location

Plant in 2013

Istanbul sightsAyasofya and cisterns

Trabzon Area- Nordmann fir

Hand weeding, tea and hazelnuts

Stands of Nordmann

Georgia