Methods of poplar propragation and establishment on forest and agricultural land in Sweden

Currently, in Sweden, the interest in growing poplars is increasing. But there is still scarce of knowledge about the appropriate species and clones that should be used for the specific conditions of Sweden. The disposal of information to farmers is also limited, which can difficult the establishment of poplar plantations. Most poplar plantations in Sweden are located on agricultural lands. A special attention should be given to the establishment phase. It is necessary to consider the specific conditions of Sweden: hard winter (extremes temperatures, late frost, and soil frost), high densities of wildlife (moose, deer, and voles) and weed competition that can cause problems for the establishment. This paper has two parts: the first part treats different methods that can be used in order to get a good regeneration and successfull establishment of poplars and the second part aims to compare the growth and root development of cuttings pretreated with water, Allgrow and naphthalene acetic acid. Normally, pre-soaking cuttings into growth regulators or hormones stimulates rooting and increases plant survival. But in this case, the results achieved in the greenhouse do not support the hypothesis regarding the positive effects of soaking cuttings in NAA (naphthalene acetic acid)