Melaleuca alternifolia Seedlings. Cell grown seedlings / Transplanting / Seed Stock / Oil Yield / Delivery
The establishment of Tea Tree plantations on a large scale began during the 1980’s, seedlings were commonly grown in communal trays with no control over plant size nor spacing and were planted into the field bare root with little or no attention paid to transpiration or transplant shock, this of course led to many deaths in the field and the expense of replanting.
Today the use of cell trays provides a stronger more consistent plant by reducing competition and allowing the development of a root system better suited to transplanting. To provide the transplant with a suitable balance between root mass and top growth the correct size and shape of cell must be used. A sturdy tea tree seedling capable of establishing in the field should be of no less than 200 mm in stem height (after trimming) with a calliper of no less than 3 mm at 25 mm above the root ball. To achieve this a cell volume of at least 16 cc should be used and the plant grown for between 12 and 16 weeks. The trend today is towards a slightly larger capacity of approximately 20 cc, providing a larger storage of nutrients and moisture to the young plant. The shape of the cell should encourage straight, downwards root growth, eliminate root circling, "J" rooting and to allow air pruning at the drain hole. The number of cells per m2 should not exceed 900 as this reduces air movement around the plants, increases the incidence of disease and prevents the plant from hardening sufficiently to withstand the shock of transplant.
Mechanical transplanters are capable of planting large numbers of seedlings in a day, however plants must be of a consistent size and quality for the equipment to function efficiently and for high strike rates of around 100% to be achieved. Remember that the costs of fill-in planting cannot be justified by the purchase of inferior plants. Seedlings from Tea Tree Transplants are grown with all of these aspects in mind. Plants are produced in 198 cell trays to a consistent high quality with an emphasis on root formation and stem thickness. Seedlings are tip pruned at least twice to encourage lateral shoot formation and are delivered ready for planting at a uniform 200 mm stem height. This results in a bushier plant at first harvest .
Seedlings are planted at rates of around 35,000 per hectare on row centres ranging from 70 cm to 1 metre. Rows may be either hilled or flat depending upon machinery and method of irrigation. Fertilisers can be applied at planting through fertiliser knives laying the nutrients beneath the planting depth or by side dressing after planting.
Irrigation is almost always necessary to achieve the maximum strike rate. Water may be applied through sprinklers, travelling irrigators or furrow irrigation . The use of a water tanker is recommended as an interim measure only. The new planting should be thoroughly wetted and good soil moisture levels maintained until new roots have formed and moved out from the root ball into the surrounding soil.
Weeds may be controlled by the use of either pre-emergent herbicides, post emergent selective herbicides or shielded interrow spraying of general herbicides. Inter row cultivation is best left until the seedlings have established.
Until newly planted seed orchards become productive within the next few years, all seedlings are produced from the best available bush harvested seed. For oil quality it is therefore important that the provenance of all seed is both known and reliable. Tea Tree Transplants source their seed from areas known to be both rich in Terpinen-4-ol and particularly low in 1-8 Cineole (table 1). Tea Tree Transplants also raises seedlings using customer supplied seed, ask for the discount.
TABLE 1. Typical Analysis of Parent Tea Tree
As an added surety that the seedlings will produce only the best quality oil, tip prunings are distilled at 8 weeks of age and the oil analysed. Whilst this oil is not fully representative of oil produced from mature plants, it is indicative of the oil produced at maturity (table 2); note that terpinen-4-ol increases and 1,8-cineole decreases with maturity.
TABLE 2. Comparative Oil Analysis of Developmental Stages.
Oil yield is a combination of a number of interacting factors ie:- seed & seedling selection, plant growth, planting densities and management practices. The planting densities and farming practices are under the direct control of the plantation operator, it is therefore important that the correct choice of seedlings is made to provide the best base upon which to build a successful Tea Tree Oil plantation.
Tea Tree Transplants seedlings, when provided with good management have regularly produced pharmaceutical grade Australian Tea tree Oil in excess of 150 kg / ha at first harvest and 250 kg oil / ha at maturity.
Seedlings are pulled from the trays and packed into waxed cartons of 800 (28,800 seedlings per pallet) for delivery to customers nationwide. Quality control measures ensure that only the most vigorous plants are despatched.
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