An Introduction to seedlings

To the average passerby, a pine plantation is nothing special, nothing complex. However, not all pine trees are created equal. Thanks to the hard work of many timber industry professionals, most people now understand the difference between a loblolly pine and a longleaf, a slash pine and a white pine and so on. But the savvy investor should be concerned with a deeper understanding of what makes for a strong timber investment; an understanding of modern pine seedling genetics.

The traditional nomenclature of genetics revolves around Generations of seedlings. For example, you may hear someone ask whether the pine seedlings you are planting are Gen. 2 or Gen. 3. While this has served the purpose to clarify seedling improvements generally over the years, modern genetic work requires a more specific set of criteria to distinguish a good pine tree from a great one from a truly exceptional example.

Improved Containerized Longleaf Pine Seedling, Freshly Planted

LTM has been on top of the genetic advances for its entire 35-year history. We not only consider broad categorization, but we pay close attention to tree families and quality ratings, keeping track of intra-generational differences. Just within its line of Generation 3 seedlings, one of our vendors has 3 more levels of differentiation. More so, among these are also multiple ways for the seedling quality to be enhanced, such as open pollination, controlled pollination, and even cloning the best of the best trees. These options can easily seem overwhelming. That's why we're here. LTM has done the grunt work of staying current with the science and technology to make it easier for you to optimize your investment.

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