Singling, tip pruning and stem form improvement for Koa

Forest Solutions, Inc.November 16, 2012

Why is it needed?

• Acacias have poor apical dominance- Heavy lateral branching- Competing leaders

• This is exacerbated by- Psyllid attacks that kill apical

meristem- Frost / drought that also kill

tips- Open growing conditions

What is singling and tip pruning?

• Singling- Removing competitive leaders

only- Cut flush with stem of sapling- Target small (1/4” or less)

branches

• Tip pruning- Remove tips of competing

leaders only- Keep photosynthetic area- Reduce competition from side

branches

Singling and tip pruning: Cases 1 – 3

Singling

Tip pruning

Singling and tip pruning: Cases 4 – 6

Singling

Tip pruning

Singling: Before

Singling: After

Singling: Before

Singling: After

Tip pruning

Singling schedule

• Entry 1 at 10 months• Entry 2 at 16 months w/ tip pruning• Entry 3 at 24 months w/ tip pruning

• Cost- Approximately $ 80 - $ 90 per acre depending on ground

conditions

Cost consequences of insufficient pruning

• Pruning at 5 - 6 years- Large dead branches- Telescoping chain saw

necessary- Longer time per tree

• Pruning at 3 - 4 years- All live branches- Hand saw sufficient- Shorter per-tree times- More trees eligible for

pruning

Per-operator Acres / hr

Tool / Method Time/tree (min)

Trees/hr

2006‡ (200 tpa)

2007 (220 tpa)

2009 (240 tpa)

Hand saw 0.73 82 0.41 0.37 0.34Manual telescoping† 0.93 64 0.32 0.29 NAChainsaw telescoping† 0.88 68 0.34 0.31 NA† Area per time does not influence production rates because telescoping saws visit fewer trees than hand saws and can thus spend additional time at a given tree‡ Trees per acre indicates trees that must be pruned, not total stems

Personnel Production Cost

Stand Hand saw

Man. Tel.

Chn. Tel.

Acres / hr

Acres / (8 hr) day $ / hr $ / ac

2006 2 1 1 0.82 6.56 $125 $1522007 2 1 1 0.74 5.92 $125 $1692009 4 0 0 1.36 10.88 $125 $92