Hybrid Popular Trees

[12vman]

I'm curious. Will hybrid popular trees produce seeds and is it possible to gather the seeds and grow more?

Any time that I look for them, they are always saplings. I have a friend that planted quite a few some years back and I want to go collect some seeds if they produce them.
~Don

[WRTN]

Hybrids revert back to one of the parent stocks that usually do not have the genetic traits of the hybrid.

You can reproduce these tree by taking cuttings and potting them after you treat them with root stimulant such as Rootone. Once the cuttings have rooted well and growing, you can plant them.

[12vman]

Thanks.. I don't know much about them myself. I just know that they grow like crazy!

I'm trying to save some money. Figured I could collect some seeds and sprout them to avoid buying the saplings.

I never did the cutting thing. Probably need to wait untill next year now, I guess.. :-/

[Deberosa]

Acutally you can root them over the winter in a bed of sand. Even in your area it would work, dipping them in rooting solution and setting them in a small raised bed of sand - you can fit alot of cuttings in just a square foot of area.

See www.freeplants.com he has a whole nursery that he starts this way.

[MooseToo]

cloning hybrids is best done quietly behind the barn - patent law attorneys, you know -

[OzarkMtnDaredevil]

Don. Tread carefully with Poplars of any variety.
Back in '91 or '92, I planted both Hybrid and Lombardy Poplars that I wish I hadn't. The roots grow VERY shallow and put up shoots anywhere they darn-well please. I've fought baby trees with the mower AND the axe AND the mattock for years. I made the mistake of planting a few Hybrids for Summer shade on the NW side of the house, 45 feet away, and they have spread roots under the foundation blocks. It's a constant battle. Root bulges (baby trees) have bent more than one mower blade.

Yeah, they're pretty trees, grow fast and are drought and disease resistant BUT... get my point?
If you're wanting to grow them for firewood and AWAY from the house or barn/shop, go for it. You don't need seeds, man. Believe me. Some of the things I've done to the roots should kill ANY tree. If you get ONE started, plan on having a dang FOREST to manage in five to seven years.

[Faye]

What OzarkMtnDareDevil said.

[12vman]

I have over 6 acres that is being reclaimed as I speak. It's a good distance away from any structures. I plan to fence it in for a couple head of cattle and grow some firewood. ;)

[Catalpa]

I have a couple of hybrid popple trees, but I haven't had all those problems.

The main problem is that the tree won't live long...it's already got some dead branches.

[EarthMother]

I agree about the short lives of poplars. If I remember correctly, it seems to me that they have an expected life of 15 yrs-maybe 20.

[Drawbar]

I have not got any hybrid popular but I have planted a few acres in a high-bred hackmatack. The forester said we would harvest them in 12 years at 30 cord per acre, 12 inches in diamter and 50 feet high. I though he was crazy as no tree in Maine grows that fast, but now that its been 14 years, he was right on the money.

I am still not sure I should have planted them. Back then the area here had plenty of farm ground. I was younger then too and logging a lot so wood sounded good. Now farm ground is getting scarce and trees are everywhere. I cannot say that what I did was wrong, the high breds have grown enough to produce 84 dollars per acre per year, where as the farm ground does not pay that much...but I never thought fuel to power a bulldozer to rip them out of the ground would be at 5 bucks a gallon. In simple terms, reverting back to farm ground is very expensive.

Think carefully before you plant. From a money point of view,what I did was right,but I kind of wish now I had kept that acreage into fields.



http://www.railroadmachinist.com/images/Dads_Hack-small.JPG

[bookwormom]

hackmatack, what a name to call a larch. ( I had to look it up).
as far as I know, poplar is not a great firewood. Better than nothing I guess. I once planted two, up in Indiana for shade. No problems. you are not talking about some kind of aspens daredevil? I had one that spread all over the countryside. My father in law would tell you you planted it in the wrong sign.

[Drawbar]

Yes it gets confusing. Hackmatack, Tamerack, Larch, Juniper...they all mean the same tree here, though in reality a larch and juniper are two completely different trees.

Even the OP mentioned popular which we call popil here in Maine. Of course people from away call it Aspen too, but Balm of a Gilard is another name. It gets kind of confusing.

You are right in any case, I don't think popil makes very good firewood, but it is better then nothing. In all honesty I don't think planting trees for firewood is all that great of an idea, at least not in an open pasture.

It depends of course, but even hybrid-trees take awhile to grow. In the mean time you are tying up that land from pasturing animals as sheep, goats, cows will all eventually kill the trees, especially small trees, if they are not individually protected. That's kind of labor intensive for a bunch of firewood.

Taxes MAY be another reason. You get quite a bit taken off property taxes in most states for open land. If you plant trees on that open land, and do not enroll it in the state Tree Growth system, then your tax savings are lost. 6 acres won't be enough land to put it into Tree Growth (you need 10) so unless you have other forest land then you are going to pay full-rate taxes.

Another reason you may not want to do this is because of the narrow time frame. Hybrid-trees grow fast, but they also are of the same age. They may live to be 20 years old, so you will have about 6 years to burn all that firewood. What I am getting at is you are going to have to wait 12-15 years for firewood, then when it comes you are going to have too much of a good thing. At 30 cord per acre you will have 180 cord of wood. Since wood rots pretty fast (especially popil) you are going to have to get rid of a lot of firewood in a short amount of time.

Ideally you could harvest an acre of ground in ten years, then another acre another year and then another, replanting as you go, but unfortunately ideal situations and forestry don't work that way. Diseases, available light, nutrients and other factors all seem to have a way of working against you. For what it is worth, every one of our attempts at having a tree plantation has failed for various reasons. Its tougher to do then it sounds.

In my honest opinion, I have found firewood fairly easy to obtain. Municipal areas now have wood piles that can be used for firewood, old logging sites can often be gleaned for the wood that is left behind, not to mention burning scrap wood like pallets and other debris. Starting a new forest is a lofty goal, but I think there may be alternatives to getting firewood rather then tying up 6 acres of prime ground for 10 years with little use out of it.

Let me ask you this...is it easier to find alternative firewood sources then it would be finding some land to pasture some animals? If your neighbor has 100 acres of unused fields then by all means plant trees, but if there are few places to put livestock, then I would rethink the tree planting idea.

I am in this boat now. I got a small tree plantation that is not working out. (Larch bark bettle infestation). They are nearing maturity so all is not lost, but I have lost 3-4 trees per acre. Now the cost of fuel has got so high that pulling the stumps out is prohibitively expensive,and farm ground is valuable again. In short I kind of wish I never planted my fields in trees.

Think real hard before you have regrets like me my friend, that is all I am saying.