Christmas tree seedling production at Lewis River Reforestation. Transplanting 1 year olds

Rob here from the flanigan homestead We’re back out At lewis river reforestation i showed You a video of them digging Their millions of trees last fall that They bagged and they sold to christmas Tree farmers like you and i or forestry People Uh today they are transplanting their One-year-olds they dug them up at the Same time they dug the two-year-olds That they sold us And uh they’ve been in a cooler all Winter long and it’s uh Now late april and they are Transplanting them out in the field A little farther apart than they were so We’re going to go visit them today Way behind me over here you might be Able to see them they are planting Cedars over there in the field over There doing they’re doing doug first Today i’m going to get some video of the Doug Fir as a christmas tree farm in the Northwest i would like to do See them doing the nobles but the doug Fur the nobles They do exactly the same that well in The cedars anyway So again this is one year old trees that They planted By it as seed in these fields last year They dug up they’re now about six inches

Tall and they’re going to space them a Little wider apart Transplant them growing another year for A 200 200 christmas tree and this is at lewis River reforestation in woodland Washington The trees that we’re going to see today They were You had them growing on the farm you Were digging them up When you dug them up last fall or yep You know You’re transplanting them at a wider Spacing yeah as Uh in the seed beds that we dug we dig Those up Uh early winter and get them in the Freezer actually in the freezer to keep Them from getting too frozen But uh we grow those in the seed beds Are generally around 125 Trees per bed lineal bed foot of uh Transplant bed and we now will space Them out In the transplanter machine and they Space out to about 30 trees per bed foot So We’re spreading them about three inches Apart to allow for The root growth and the branching in the Tree that we want to see in the second Year These beds aren’t as prepared

You get to the plowed tilled and rolled And then over here they’re rows that are Done And currently putting in One-year-old trees that are being Transplanted today wider apart they’ll Grow another year In the beds until they’re shipped out Planting at your farm or property As we catch up to the crew in the Tractor planting you see that there’s Seven Rows per bed each row is planted by an Individual Planting wheel or station and each one Is manned by a separate person You can only see three here but there’s Seven people in there Each station has a completely vertical Will In which they’re hand feeding seedlings That will be pressed into the ground There is a blade that opens up the Ground the wheel comes down sticks the Seedling in And then there’s two more wheels that You can see angled in That are pressing the soil back around The trees Here you see one of the ladies feeding The wheel As it goes around each seedling will be About three inches apart In this row

And here you can see it being pressed Into the ground and the wheels that are Angled in Pressing the soil around the tree [Music] On this tractor they’re planting about 170 trees per minute There’s two tractors currently running On the farm there will be three running At one time later on today This farm will transplant over four Million trees This spring One gentleman has the job of supplying All the planters With seedlings he dips uh a batch of Seedlings In a bucket of water that also has Rooting hormone And then gets them on the trays for the Planters So he’s got his bundles of seedlings That are going to go in the ground We’re slowly crawling around I think it’s six feet per minute There are seven different people feeding The wheels After the tractor has gone through There’s two people Evening out the rows and making sure all The trees are well planted and standing Up So i notice you have a lot of tractors Around here

They specific use or they all get used At one time what’s going on They actually each one has a specific Use and we Today was an excellent example of we Used almost every tractor we have Was in the field at one point we have Three tractors with transplanters on Them two are in the field the third one Is Is just sitting there it’s waiting for Its next crew uh So this morning one of my guys was out Spraying the trees with the tractor That’s hooked up to the spray rig Uh there was a guy on this tractor right Here sub soiling And breaking open getting it ready uh Another guy was right behind him on the Green tractor with the Para power arrow i could never say that Right Uh that smoothed it out after we Subsoiled I was on this tractor right here and That’s got the bed shaper on the back That we Shaped the beds the transplant beds with And then this tractor right here will go Out after we bed shape and it’s just a Roller and it packs the Packs the transplant bed down a little Bit so the transplant will get traction On it

And that tractor is the only one not Getting used and Probably because that Uh the creeper gear broke in it last Year and it cost more to fix it than It’s worth Thanks for joining me on the flanigan Homestead where christmas trees are my Business Teaching including horticulture is my Job and outdoor projects are my passion Hope to see you again