Author Description

The accelerated pace of non-satisfactorily stocked (NSR) backlog reforestation programmes in north central British Columbia challenges northern latitude nurseries to develop cultural techniques for producing cost-effective and high performance seedlings. This report describes experiments carried out at Red Rock Research Station near Prince George. White spruce was germinated under 3 germination regimes (20/20C under- and over-bench heating systems and 20/11C under-bench heating system, all 12/12h day/night) and then grown under a common cultural regime; or germinated under a 20/20C air temperature and fertilized with either a 20-8-20 grower formulation over the entire growing season, or a 20-20-20 Hi-Sol fertilizer until mid-July followed by a 10-52-17 finisher formulation. Crop growth was assessed periodically to provide growth curves of height, caliper, shoot mass, and root mass, as well as shoot to root ratios and sturdiness ratios.