Video: What progress was made with growth in 2016?
Why will we only plant three year old trees in Germany from 2017:
Our aim is not merely to plant paulownia trees but to harvest top-quality wood from our plantations after ten years. In Western Europe it is almost impossible to raise from seed a tree with a trunk that reaches a minimum height of 3.5 within a year and which turns to wood. It is precisely this criterion that is crucial for the production of top-quality wood. The taller the better, and the more productive.
Two year old trunk (with a discontinuity) on a two year old root
One year old trunk and three year old root
To do this, we carried out tests with our partners in China to find out how the wood develops with varying starting situations such as one, two and three year old trees / roots in our climatic regions. The results showed us that the optimal solution is the planting of a three year old root with a one year old trunk.
This is done as follows: In the first year our Chinese partners produce from seed, first a root, then a seedling and finally a sapling. What is important here is that we have an exact knowledge of the genetic origin and purity of the seeds.
In China the seedling resulting from this seed reaches a height of around 3-5 metres in the first year and a trunk diameter of around 3-4 cm. The second growth year then brings additional growth height of around 2-2.5 metres. In this case we have a relatively tall young tree with a small trunk diameter.
Here the problem is that there is a discontinuity within the trunk between the first and second years of growth. We cannot allow this if we wish to produce top-quality wood.
For that reason, and using the concept developed by our paulownia experts in China, now the entire (two year) trunk that has grown so far is cut down / cut back to the roots between the second and third years. In the first two years a major proportion of the energy produced by the leaves goes into the formation of the roots. This is now so strong that it can allow a trunk that is 4.5-5.0 metres high and 6-7 cm thick to grow.
This "shoot" then becomes completely woody with the energetic support of the strong roots. We thus have a trunk that is homogeneous and is all of a piece as regards growth. This creates even better preconditions for us to be able to produce the best high-quality paulownia wood on our plantations in Germany.
For that reason, and on this basis, we are developing ever further from the know-how that we have gained from our plantations to show where the differences between the topics of paulownia plantations and high-quality wood production are in Germany.
Video: Why will three year old trees be planted in future?
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