The effect of soil preparation on pine seedling performance in plantations established in moist forest habitats

This paper reports on the results of the experiment with pine plantations established in the territory of Pszczyńskie Forests in the moist mixed coniferous (BMw) and moist mixed broadleaved (LMw) forest habitats. The measurements took place in seedlings in the fifth year of growth. The soil preparation variants included: full beds, ridge beds, and strips established with FAO−FAR soil cutter. The parameters subjected to analysis embraced planting density, survival and quality of seedlings, as well as the costs incurred for establishing and tending of plantations taking into consideration soil preparation method. The performance of seedlings planted on full beds was found to be best, while on strips – it was lowest. The seedlings growing on strips showed the best height increment and quality and those growing on beds – the poorest. The variability in parameters between individual sites of the experiment was high