Index

A
accidental hazards 9
animals 62

B
bananas 58
bark ringing (or girdling) 35–8
bats, pollination by 56
biodiversity and domestication 41–6
breeding programmes 57
broadleaved trees 18

C
cereals 58
chance occurrences 42
check-lists
          assessment of germination 113–15
          seed handling and propagation 109–11
          seed and young seedling problems 103–5
          sources and records 103–15
          tree flowering and genetics 107–8
chemicals 38, 71, 78
clearings 2
cones, female 25–7
coniferous trees 18
conservation 43–5
containers 91
cross-pollination 23–4
crossing trees 55–60

D
difficulties 9
direct sowing 13–15
diseases and pests 78, 97–8
dispersal 17
distribution 25–6
domestication 42, 44, 58
droughts 25
dry fruits 25–7, 69–71
dry seeds 7, 62, 77, 95

E
environments 7, 42, 79–81
exotics 48

F
fertilisation 17, 20, 25
flowers 17, 33–4, 107
          and cones 18
          and fruits 19–20
          initiation 17
          stimuation 33–9
          trees 18, 21–4
forage, firewood and timber 27
fruits 25–7, 52
          animals 62
          collecting 25–6, 65–8
          fleshy 7, 25–7, 69–70
          heights 38–9
          picking 66–7
          and seeds 17, 27, 107
          setting 25, 107
          wastage 27

G
genetics
          engineering 43
          improvements 10
          origins 9–10, 47
          sources 19
          tendencies 42
          variation 41, 108
germination 7, 17, 29–30, 79–101
          assessment 113–15
          checking and protecting young seedlings 97–8
          favourable seed propagation environments 79–81
          germination medium 85–6
          potting up and transplanting young seedlings 93–4
          problems 105
          seedlings 7, 10, 104
          shelter and shading 83–4
          sowing and covering 87–9
          tests and seed experiments 99–101
          tree seedlings 10
          watering and young seedlings 95–6
          wildings and already germinating seeds 91–2
gibberellic acid (GA) 37–8
grafting 39
ground cover 15
growing methods 8, 14
growth and development 47
guide-lines, general 4

H
hybrids 56

I
inbreeding 53–4, 58
indigenous species 48
insects 56, 62
internal factors 42

J
juvenile trees 18, 37, 107

L
labelling 36
land management 2–3
landscape patterns 44
light 14, 31
light levels 11
local communities 3

M
Mahogany 16
manuals 4
maturation 17
mature trees 18–19
mechanical breakages 11

N
natural
          flowering 33
          regeneration 8
          reproduction 27
          selection 17
nurseries 13, 98, 110
          problems 9, 83
          supplies 110
          trees 11, 25–6
          nutrients 11

P
parent trees 24, 26, 35, 51–5
pollination 17, 23–5, 29, 56, 107
          and seed production 10
potting up and transplanting young seedlings 93–4
propagation 19–20, 79–81, 109–11
          by seed 5–9
provenance differences 47–9

R
record keeping 58, 60
regeneration 13
research stations 57
reserves 45
rodents 62
root cuttings 5, 7
root systems 34–6, 96

S
seedlings 10, 17, 93–8, 103–4
          germinating 10, 104
seeds
          beds 87, 91
          check-list 103–4
          checking 62, 97–8
          collection 10, 65–6, 109
          disadvantages 6
          diseases 62
          dormancy 29–32, 109
          exchanging 59–60
          extracted 103
          germination environments 7
          handling
                    avoiding losses 61–3
                    drying and storing 73–6
                    extraction and cleaning 69–72
                    fruit and seed collection 65–8
                    pre-sowing treatments 77–8
          inhibitors 30
          kilns 74
          moisture content 74
          orchards 55, 57
          overcoming problems 9–11
          quiescent 29
          rot 72
          sources 40–60
                    biodiversity and domestication 41–6
                    crossing 55–60
                    parent trees 51–4
                    provenance differences 47–9
                    seed supplies 59–60, 110
          sown 10–14
          special stands 55
          storage 27, 103
          supplies 59–60
          trays 86–7, 91
          types and storage ability 109
          viability 29
          self-pollination 23–4
          sexual reproduction 17–39
                    from flower initiation to polination 21–4
                    fruit and seed formation 25–7
                    seed viability and dormancy 29–32
                    stimulation of flowering 33–9
          soil 14–15
          soil-blocks 91
          species 9, 42, 48
                    unknown 7
          stem bark damage 34
          stimulation 37, 39

T
teak plantations 52
temperatures 11, 31, 62, 79–80
tetrazolium test 100
trees
          climbing 67
          desired species 9
          importance of 1
          improvement 42
          nurseries 11, 25–6
          why grow 1–4
          see also juvenile trees; mature trees;
                    parent trees

U
undomesticated species 42

W
water stress 11
watering 80, 88, 94–6
wildings 1–2, 8–9, 91–2

Tropical Trees: Propagation and Planting Manuals. Volume 2

RAISING SEEDLINGS OF TROPICAL TREES

This Manual is the second in a series of readable, well illustrated handbooks about propagating and planting tropical trees (see inside back cover).

The five Manuals have been designed to provide clear and concise information on how to select, grow, plant and care for tropical trees, in both moist and drier parts of the tropics. They are intended for anyone interested in growing trees, from the small-holder to the large-scale grower, from local communities to national governments and from school and further education teachers to research and extension staff of agricultural and forestry departments. They provide illustrated, step-by-step instructions, practical guidelines and an outline of the thought processes behind them.

Manual 2 deals with the all the procedures necessary for growing tropical trees from seeds. These include suitable techniques for:

• The collection and selection of suitable seeds

• The correct handling and storage of seeds

• The successful germination of seeds

• Potting up and transplanting young seedlings

• Maintaining the right environment for care and protection of seedlings

The manual includes useful check lists for possible problems that might be encountered and on assessing germination, and provides references for further information on tree flowering and genetics and seed handling and propagation.

The procedures described in this series of Manuals may be used with the majority of woody species to provide diverse seedling or clonal mixtures. They include techniques for ‘domestication’, so that superior planting stock can increasingly be used. This can help to capture more rapidly the great potential for multiple usefulness offered by tropical trees, while also encouraging the conservation of their genetic resources.