Newton Nursery cold storage of plants and seed1981
Photographs courtesy of Alan Duncan, Newton Nursery.
Struan Stewart, Chief Forester, Laigh of Moray which also included Newton Nursery examining bags of tree seed in the private cold store at Dalcross (Salvasens?).
The tree seed which could be several years old would have been kept in cold dry conditions at Alice Holt seed store (England) and prior to sowing in the nursery that season was soaked and kept in chilled conditions for a period of time. The seed bags usually had drain holes to allow excess water to drain away but the seed sometimes required additional wetting to keep conditions correct – hence the water spray.
This wetting and chilling enhanced the seed germination rate and synchronised the start of growth more closely to give more even plant heights in the seed beds.
Groups: Forest Nurseries, Forestry in Action