From seed to plant

One cannot be too particular when it comes to the origin of the plant. We have both our own and partly owned seed plantations for pine, spruce and Contorta pine. They are made up of carefully selected trees, to obtain the best possible seed quality and provide forests that grow up to 25-30 percent better than untreated forests.

We pick the cones by hand and then treat them with heat to release their seeds. In total, we use around three million cones from the plantations - every year. This corresponds to approximately 100,000 liters of cones, which produce half a ton of seed.

Sowing starts in January and we sow around a million seeds a day. The seeds are placed one by one in the center of each pot filled with peat. Everything happens automatically and photocells check that each pot contains a seed. The pots are assembled in plant boxes which are placed in a growing frame all the way from sowing to delivery at the farm.

In the forest's nursery – our 18 greenhouses – the seeds get the best start and a safe upbringing. The seeds germinate and the plants take shape, thanks to a favorable climate that we carefully control. Our advanced data system ensures that the plants receive the right irrigation, temperature, fertilization and lighting. In this way, they are well prepared for life outdoors.

After a few weeks, the plants are moved out to one of our many open air sites. Here they continue to grow thanks to careful management with fertilizer and water. The plants stay in the open air sites between six and twenty-four months before they are ready for delivery. The delivery time depends on the tree species, plant type and starting time for when the plants began to germinate in the greenhouse.

During the winter, the plants rest under a protective cover of 30 cm of snow that we make with snow cannons. By covering the plants with artificial snow, the roots are protected against freezing damage and the plants cope with the cold without problems. In a normal season, we produce around 50,000 cubic meters of snow.

Quality is a word of honor for us and we have Sweden's most comprehensive follow-up of plant quality. While the plant is growing, we regularly analyze its vitality, the balance between root and green part and the nutrient composition. Everything is documented in a unique system, a kind of childcare center for plants. Thanks to that, we can ensure that the plants are doing well and see which plants are ready for delivery.

An intensive period begins in May. Now we will deliver approx. 100 million plants to our clientele, which consists of a thousand customers, large and small. During high season, we deliver around 1.5 million plants a day with trucks that hold several hundred thousand plants. We deliver the plants as close to the clearing as possible and water them right up until delivery.

Planting is the most successful method of creating new forest and our seedlings can be planted from May to October. We follow the seedlings that we plant in our own forests until they reach the age of ten. Our plant monitoring began in 1974 and we have monitored many thousands of plants over the years. Thanks to this knowledge, we can continue to develop our plants, cultivation and forestry so that our plants become even better.