Touring a Wholesale Nursery: Seedlings, Cuttings, and Grafted Evergreen and Conifer Trees

Touring a Wholesale Nursery: Seedlings, Cuttings, and Grafted Evergreen and Conifer Trees

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hey guys my name is Jason with s j Forest  Products and today I'm down in Oregon at   a Wholesale Nursery here I'm picking up  a bunch of Redwood seedlings I got and   Joe here the owner of the the nursery is  going to give us a little tour and we're   gonna go see what this whole operation is  all about so here these are our redwoods   here huh yeah all right these are the  one-year-old plugs that you ordered   they're uh they're nice big things that's one  year from a seed that's amazing that's a that's   18 inches at least in one year that's amazing  and then you ordered some uh two-year trees and   that's these guys and these are called band pots  you got it you gotta educate me about what I'm   getting here so these are like this is uh gonna  be the size that I plant in the field okay okay so   we got a frog over there oh the Frog's making the  noise yeah and uh these are these are uh like two   or three inch band pots you call them okay three  by five band pots and so down down here in Oregon   you're near Portland can you plant these and have  them grow pretty regularly I mean they're they're   not gonna tears are fine if we get a really cold  year they can freeze back okay and I've only had   one year out of 20 some years growing this tree  that it's killed them okay most of the time it'll   just freeze off the top six inches or so gotcha  and that's why I don't plant this size I'd advise   putting these into pots and growing them up and  getting a little bit thicker trunk on them before   they go out because the top might burnt back  sure okay that's good advice because I've I've   you know I'm these are going to go out I'm up in  Northwest Washington it's colder I saw your video   on where you're planting them there yeah yeah so  we'll we'll see I mean this is a big experiment   for me I don't know if this is gonna work I I may  kill every one of these trees I hope not it just   depends on the coldness in the ear and how they  get going yeah there I I do know there are there's   two or three redwoods in Bellingham that are nice  good sized trees so I know that it can work the   Sequoias do way better I mean we've got lots of  Sequoias up there but I I mean it's just such   an iconic tree and I really want to see if I can  get some of these going these are just beautiful   plugs I these are amazing and what's so you you  do the seeds you stratify them I buy actually   buy my seeds I got my I did my crop of Sequoias  this morning okay and I bought one ounce of seed   and that's enough for my Nursery per year okay  and down here that's right down here yeah sure   today and uh we're gonna in one year we'll  be harvesting them for you next time for me   that's right next year I'll yeah I don't know  if I want to make the drive down again but   no this is cool so we we dropped one seed in  each little plug here and one each little spot   all be darned and then we're gonna cover it with  a thin layer of sawdust okay the cedar sawdust   works great because it keeps the Moss away oh  sure but uh if you don't have Cedar sodas first   sawdust anything will work you're talking like  a quarter inch just a little dusting it's just   okay okay cover it up and then that will keep  the uh we got also got to keep the birds out of   here because the birds will try to get in here and  eat the seeds and the mice will try to get in here   and they they love seeds wow and you were telling  me earlier you don't need to stratify these this   seed does not need to be stratified right out of  the package one seed per plug and this all all of   these cells are all Sequoias right now yeah wow  two tables and Sequoias and that's my my usage   for a year and then we're gonna fill this whole  Greenhouse up here with other kinds of pines and   Spruce and Douglas Firs and uh pretty much all  the Conifer trees that I grow okay and so one   ounce of Sequoia is how many roughly how many  trees or seeds you got here like five thousand   or times seven five thousand seven hundred and  sixty wow so over 5 000 seeds from one ounce   yep and and this one has a poor germination rate  so about 50 to 75 percent will germinate oh okay   okay so you're looking for two to 2500 to 3 500.  how long you gotta stratify every seed's different   um what the process of stratifying it is you take  the seed like the ounce of seed that I would get   or five ounces or three ounces or whatever how  many I get okay soak them in water for 24 hours   and then drain the water off  and put in the refrigerator for   this specified time period okay and it  could be 30 days it could be 60 days   um some of the White Pines I do are 120 days  wow Scotch Pines 90 days Shore Pine is 30 days   so and then they it's like  creating a winter form okay take it   going and then the cold weather and then they  sprout so it's like you're tricking them into   thinking they've gone through the winter they're  and they're stored they're dried when they're   stored there the seeds are picked the seed  is dried down to a certain moisture content   and then they can store it frozen  for years okay but you don't want to you got to get I buy the Seed picking your  own seed and trying to drive down to a certain   moisture content it's just and store it and  freezing it's it's too much too complicated   for the one ounce or two ounces that I use sure  sure yeah yeah much easier just to buy it yeah   well what is now it's a seed cost 100 bucks a  couple hundred bucks why do the whole Greenhouse   here there's 75 000 seeds and it's roughly  a thousand dollars wow so they're not very   expensive for seed and some varieties are more the  Sequoias are sometimes expensive but it's still   pretty pretty relative to what the trees sell  for sure yeah yeah well cool well awesome so I   think I've got the process now so let's say you  were wanting to grow trees in Bellingham and uh   your first crop of these trees you're growing it  from your kids yes correct yep so you plant these   trees out and let's say 90 of them died off but  you had a a certain group of them just 10 of them   that really took off and grew and they didn't  seem to be bothered by the cold weather okay   or bothered maybe they had an exceptional growth  rate so they're like two characteristics that you   want as a Timber grower okay to see because  when you're buying seedlings they're all   sexually propagated so they're the parents are  different okay every seedling is every tree is   different genetics so if you wanted to select out  genetics that were to your desire yeah fast growth   maybe blue if you're in the nursery Business  Like Me Maybe blue growth people like blue for   some reason okay or Timber you want to grow fast  maybe sure or wet tolerant or cold yeah okay I'm   with you so you can take one of those trees in  and you can genetically clone it and the way you   clone it is you take a cutting off of it okay I  have right here I want to show you these because   these are Giants or Post Redwood that I cloned oh  no way yeah and they've stricken up I'm striking   roots on these they've already got Roots popping  out okay all right and so this is a cultivar   that I've selected I just call it Coast Redwood  but it's one that doesn't have as much it has a   little blue or darker color to it it's a little  bit faster growing and it seems to not be bothered   by the cold temperatures as much interesting  so the traits that I have that I like okay   but there are some other cultivars out there  that people have selected that are popular   they have names on them and some of them have  patents on them which I don't like patents   so you just took a cutting of the of the tree  you liked you dipped it in I've heard it called   rootone or rooting hormone rooting hormones  my different mixes I use but pretty much a   root tone type of mix and then I put them in here  and this is a heated bed oh the wires these these   tubes here are full of hot water um okay oh yeah  they're warm yeah yeah and we take the cuttings   in January when it's real cold outside and the  tops of the trees in the greenhouse is not heated   except for this so we keep the the top of the  foliage cool so it doesn't dry out okay and we   warm up the root Zone and The Roots just tend to  come I'll be darned it's even fine little fruits   look at there that is just a beautiful  little cutting there and is there is it   the tips of the branches it looks like you you  cut you know half you cut the top off and how   do you how do you some trees are different  we usually this one didn't root but usually   um yeah we just try different parts just yeah just  just take cuttings and and yeah see what you can   get I'll be done 100 take but we get pretty good  some trees we do better on and this is a tree you   have here that you like some oh yeah there's a  row of them out there that we take cuttings off   of every year so I've been growing this one  every year for year after year oh okay so is   that the same I'm getting or I got see I got seed  okay okay very cool so you're saying if if like   let me re say what you told me and see if I got  it right I I need to take my trees and if I plant   them and there's three that I really like they're  doing really good they're I can cut those take   cuttings root them and then I should have much  better success you'll have a crop of trees that   are genetically the same as the one that you took  the cuttings yeah so you're cloning them is now   can you do that with Western red cedar and Doug  Fir you can this is Western red cedar right here   uh this is a former Western  red cedar that rose bush here   and is more desirable for a hedge oh okay  really easy they're just full Roots wow okay   and I grew like five or six different varieties  of Western red cedar this one's called   petrovirons I think let's say an old one  no Hogan's here okay which is native to the   Gresham Oregon area and so these aren't cells  this is just a tray and you just shove them in   there yep and then about now do you replant them  and just into bad pots or well in a good a good   year we'd have Labor in the summertime and and do  it okay but it often doesn't get done till later   in the in the year because I don't have Labor  available okay okay if you want to go next door   we'll show you what they look like a year from  now oh yeah this is this is great factory tour   my dad loves these Alaska Cedar oh Alaska yellow  okay so do you do you do just a mix and match of   the I mean some from seeds some from cuttings  or do you do you do mostly cuttings for your   um the greenhouse is about probably uh 33 000  cuttings and 70 000 seats trays wow okay and those   seeds we don't get all the germination but sure  we try here sure and so I mean as we're walking   through these greenhouses are most of these sold  or are most of these inventory for you this is   this is all inventory for my own use for your own  use I plant in the field okay all right but you'll   that you'll grow up when we sell yeah okay so my  Target's a six foot tree that is dug up wow gotcha   and how many acres do you have here about 70.  70. so you're you're not in the seedling business   you're in the tree business whatever is left over  after I plant my Fields is what I have available   and that's what I try to sell oh okay okay I'm  with you I'm with you here's my giant sequoia this   is the result of one ounce of seed so the the all  the trays we saw over there this is after a year   this is what you had germinate and come up and  do its thing of Giant Sequoia okay uh this is uh Pines right here I'm not sure which plane the Pines I get pretty good percentage on yeah   the Douglas firm right here these are dogs why  are the needles so big what are you feeding   these things oh okay yeah here we go yeah  that looks more like a dog to me all right boy those are are these dogs yeah man they're  huge look at the needles on those things they're   like three inches long what are you feeding  these things a lot of well a lot of it's the   seed Zone you get the seed from so I a real  selective of my seed Zone this comes from the   Santiam national forest or Santiam Forest  I guess the national forest okay I think   so anyways lower elevation East Side Eastern  side of the or western side of the Cascades but   it's an area that I've had good luck with okay  and these are these are remind me again these   are cuttings no these are these are seeds okay  these are all seeds and this is the these are   these are a year and then you'll put them out this  spring I'll put these into uh well I will go up   and see the next yeah sure I know I'm jumping  ahead sorry I'll follow you so here's my uh my Coast Redwood [Applause] what I did is I  kept all the small ones oh I got all the big   ones you got some of the bigger ones well thank  you for that part of them I sold a few others   to some other people but that's all I want  this year in in Coast Redwood okay and I'll   also supplementing them with my cutting grow  ones so I have a mix sure that makes sense I   took the smallest ones because the time  by the time they're big enough to or by   the time I'm ready to plant them in the  field it'll be too big okay okay uh-huh well here's my cutting girl ones   right here look at there and so they just they  just sprout right out the yep right off the cut look at that and these were just transplanted in  January so they haven't really rooted out yet we   haven't fed them yet but I don't feed them too  much because if I not careful I get them too   big by summertime I plant in the summertime  you plant in the summertime you have a lot   of water here oh uh sure with the river right  there yeah yeah I get the ground just worked   up good when the ground's good dry and hard  and then I can plant it my leisure and then   I just turn the water on letter letter let her go  look at that wow well this is this is super cool right here and the growth the new growth is  yellower is that they're a little hungry and   then they were they should have been transplanted  a while back they kind of sat for a long time   because I didn't have any labor all year  uh I I hear you I'm having the same problem   so they're a little bit off color and they have a  they would have benefited more if they would have   been planted on time but for my use they'll be  fine because they'll by the time I plant they'll   be ready well yeah and and yeah you get them  the right mix and they'll green right up use   we do use by cuttings is that right now tell me  I'm fascinated by use they're a little bit of a   rare tree is that right the actual Pacific View  the native one is a difficult to root okay so   these are these are the European right oh okay  and they they strike pretty easy okay but the   the one we have native here is is a little  bit more difficult short Pine's an easy one   so you mentioned Douglas fur earlier  right yeah so Douglas fir does not   like the root from cuttings so if we want  to clone that one okay we need to graft it   oh really so over here in this greenhouse  you do some grafting of the conifers now that's a real common practice with apples  and fruit trees and things like that yeah but   you can also graft conifers oh yeah so these are  all grafted trees here these are all grafted on   this side right in this section I'm going to show  you I have some Douglas fir somewhere in here and the whole point of this the grafting  is you can't root them from cuttings but   you want to get the same characteristics  of the tree you graft them on a rootstock   right so if the tree is either hard to root  or you root it and the root system is poor   then the way we propagate them is to graft  it onto a tree that has a good root system   and since we're digging digging the trees  here we're trying to grow root systems so   that they dig easy okay so like on a um pine  tree we'll use Scotch pine as the rootstock and a little graft on our   Japanese Red Pine and this this is a  densa flora Pine or uh down here is a here's our Douglas spur so you grow a Douglas fir  tree cut the Douglas fir from seed cut the top off   now we grafted on a weeping Douglas fir here okay  so this tree grows up has real blue needles and it   grows up and weeps over like a like a Japanese  maple type of tree you know just it weeps over   okay and if you take this from cutting it doesn't  want a root and if it does root the roots are real   poor okay so we use the the native seed okay and  just graft onto it and the graphs takes really   easy we'll get 100 on these really and then you'll  cut off the the Doug Fir you'll cut you'll cut off   this top when this one comes up and then it's just  that that other characteristic for the whole tree   here's a perfect example here this is a Scotch  pine because Scotch pine has really nice Roots the   seeds is really easy to to germinate uh it's real  cheap it's twenty dollars an ounce and you can get   five six thousand plants out  of an ounce okay real cheap and   it's cold hardy and everybody likes it for  rootstock so the Digger the tree diggers   like to dig it because it has a lot of roots okay  then we'll graft onto a Lodgepole Pine here called   Chief Joseph okay this is a very highly sought  after tree and uh so we can make a a yellow tree   out of we can make anything we want  Yeah Yeah from the root from the you   make roots and you grab something on and yeah  so grafting the conifers is the way to go if   you can't get them to root right we we graph  the pines and the spruce and uh Douglas Firs the arch oh yeah and uh theodorus any any of the  true Cedars that they moved on to the advantages   yeah and there here again you have tens of  thousands of trees in here yeah so this is uh   a blue spruce which is what everybody wants  a spruce tree to look like is blue okay   and the cuttings will not root okay and nobody  likes to dig a Colorado Blue Spruce from seed   because the fruits are really hard so Norway  spruce is the way to go a real nice cold hardy   rootstock and we just graft it on and the take is  really good really and then we go from that's what   I have planted outside here is all these all those  blue screws are all all the roots are going and   so is that a blue spruce now I mean is that or  is that a we'll cut the Norway spruce off and now   it's a in the nursery trade a Colorado Blue Spruce  and no one cares what the roots are it doesn't   doesn't matter it's just a blue spruce it's a  lot of work it's a lot of work no labor either   time frame so that seed over there Norway  spruce one year I get them up this big a   year yeah that's Norway spruce in one year oh it's  a long-term investment yeah yeah these down here   are we go through and sort through them here's  last year's so that's year two geez they're slow   and then you're three and you're full so we got  three or three three four years into the seed   before you before you even get it grafted  and then after we graphed it we got we got   uh another six seven years before  it's ready to harvest holy smokes so those must be worth a pretty  penny to you at that point [Laughter]   is what it is so these are these are all your  this is what everybody wants he's a blue spruce   these are all look at that these were uh planted out right when  the covered lockdown was taking place okay about   three years ago then and can you can you see  the graft on these anymore or it's grown over yeah so why in a situation like this why don't you  cut it down flush why do you leave a little stub   just out of curiosity when the tree is trying  to take well here let's go look at the next one so we grafted this The graft cakes  that we found that if we leave   some tops some part of the top on it pull up  ah Intrigue growing more fast and it the grafts   percentage is higher and the tree takes off better  if you go in there a lot of nurseries will just   cut it right off and try to get to heal over real  fast but then the tree just sits there kind of   shocked yeah so we leave a little extra on there  and then it kind of dies back so yeah we do uh we leave that top on keep pulling it up and  then a new new Pine that we grafted on here   this is a Thunderhead Pine has taken off  and it's it's good it's it's attached now   and this one will go into the field this summer  okay it's gonna shoot probably up about that tall   and then it will go to the field and then will  you cut off this later and cut it down we're going   to cut all that this off uh in the next couple  weeks oh before it goes at you so you cut those   off plant them out and now that it's it's gotten  taken hole and it's good to establish now we're   going to cut it all off so that all the power goes  into the new into the yeah the Thunder head okay   and so these are these are three four years worth  of worth of work to get them to this this spot   remove those Spruce out in front  yeah here's our blue spruce   taking off there so see they don't take off much  that's why we leave the top on it that makes sense   that makes sense wow look at them all and so all  these are going out in the field this this in the   next couple weeks you said no this is summer it's  not oh you're right you said in the summer they'll   all get them back trim back get ready and plant  them in the summer yeah so if we let this grow uh   This is Gonna Sprout out it's already starting to  sprout and a lot of energy will come up into this   okay but we want it all to go into here into the  bottom okay yeah there's a weeping watch a weeping   large this is from uh from seed yeah yeah yeah  here's some uh ones that were planted Last Summer so we let them get fairly big last Greenhouse down  there before they come out here in the field yeah   well thank you Joe for the tour that was that was  great great fun I'll show you up here or the last   the end product of what it looks like when we  chip it out so here's the target plant these are select form of Colorado Blue Spruce that is extra  blue okay it's desirable by the garden centers   this load here is waiting for a truck to go to  Arizona oh really mountainous zone of Arizona like   the Flagstaff area sure up high higher   and we uh we dug them and stuck them in  the pots because Mark dust in Arizona is   a rare commodity okay and uh they're all but  that's over 10 years to get to there 10 years   so a third of your career has gone into  getting these trees ready to go to Arizona wow that's amazing but you liked it or most of  your trees you grow big for wholesale this   is my target this is your target this is this is  where you like to be and are these going to Lowe's   and Home Depot or these are going to high-end  Gardens a high-end garden centers places like uh   this is the higher quality yeah yeah  and how many of this size do you sell   in a year I mean thousands  and thousands yeah yeah wow   try to sell them by the truck sell them by the  truckload well yeah thanks again Joe for the tour   now the next part of the video is I gotta  go put them in the ground see if they can go

2023-05-19 12:25

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