Elsoms Begins Work on Improving Scottish Woodlands

Scottish tree seed trials have begun in Elsoms’ glasshouses as part of the agreed pre-commercial trials with Scottish Forestry, following Elsoms’ success at CivTech 4.0. The original trials, set to be carried out in Elgin, Scotland, had been postponed due to the impact of COVID-19 on the tree seed industry.

The trial consists of 4,875 trees, across five of Scotland’s most important tree species – Lodgepole pine, Scots Pine, Norway spruce, Douglas fir and Sitka Spruce. These five species are critical to the Scottish economy through timber production, but also to help raise the woodland creation from 10,000 ha per year to 15,000 ha by 2025.

With the aim of demonstrating how primed tree seed performs against unprimed seed, trials were scheduled to be carried out in Forestry and Land Scotland’s own tree nursery in Northern Scotland. Due to COVID-19, these plans were put on hold as a result of the lockdown of the nursery. Elsoms stepped in to ensure that these trials continued to take place. To further demonstrate the seed enhancement capabilities offered by Elsoms, the trial has been developed to include three biological treatments on one of the five tree species being sown.

“This trial will demonstrate how important Elsoms’ seed technology is to Scottish Forestry.” Said Phillip Ayres, Technical Manager at Elsoms Seeds. “It will show how Elsoms can help improve seed quality across a number of different species, helping to increase the biodiversity in Scottish woodlands.”

Results from this trial are due in September of this year and will be subject to an independent review. For more information on how Elsoms’ seed treatments can help improve your seed quality, please contact Phillip Ayres, Technical Manager by email (phillip.ayres@elsoms.com).