Preparing Planting Stock
Seeds
Most of the recommended species produce dormant seeds that will not germinate
unless they are stratified, or subjected to a lengthy cool period. Dormancy
can be broken either by planting tree seeds in the fall or by storing seeds
in moist sand, peat, or vermiculite at 41° F (refrigerator temperature)
for three to four months. Refer to Growing Illinois Trees From Seed (see
Sources) for more information on stratification.
Note that cottonwood is generally grown from cuttings rather than from seed.
Seedlings
Obtain nursery stock as early as you can plant and before it has leafed
out. The number grading on nursery stock indicates the age of the seedling
and whether it has been transplanted. The number before the hyphen indicates
the number of years the seedling has been in the seedbed; the number after
the hyphen indicates the number of years it has been in transplant beds.
A 2-0 seedling, for example, is two years old and has not been transplanted.
The younger the seedling, the less expensive it will be. The older the seedling,
the more likely it is to survive in your plantation, but only up to a certain
point. Very large seedlings may be unwieldy to plant and may not root well.
If you must hold the seedlings for any length of time before planting, do
not allow the roots to dry out, and protect the stock from extreme wind,
heat, or cold. It may be necessary to plant them in soil as a group (known
as healing in).
Cuttings
Cuttings are available as rooted or unrooted stock. Unrooted stock is less
expensive but is also less likely to survive. For mechanical planting, cuttings
3/8 to 5/8 inch in diameter are easier to handle than cuttings with larger
diameters. Cuttings will generally be 18 to 20 inches long. You can easily
root unrooted cuttings by putting each twig in a l-quart paper milk carton
filled with a 1-1-1 sand-soilpeat mixture. Several hundred cartons can be
grown under two fluorescent shop lights in a basement or heated garage.
If you start rooting the cuttings in January and keep them well watered,
you should have vigorous rooted stock for planting after the danger of frost
is past. The cartons will tear up easily when the cuttings are removed from
them.
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