Mahogany Farm help

mikeyyy · 22nd October 2009, 11:35 PM

Hi, Im new here and this is my first post. so... hi all.

My dad started planting mahogany trees 20 years ago as an investment. he managed to plant about 10,000 trees. the thing is, they seem to not be maturing, i heard from other mahogany farmers that their trees have matured fully in around 15 years time.

I think the problem is the trees were planted too close together and they tended to grow thinner and taller as opposed to shorter with a larger trunk diameter.
if this is the case, i wonder if there is still a way to correct this, i.e. fixing the spacing of the trees by cutting some down which will then allow the remaining trees to bulk up?

anyway, any info will help.

im attaching pics to give you experts an idea of what im talking about

these are around 10-15 years old

the fatter ones are the 20 year olds

thanks in advance

Eric Frei · 23rd October 2009, 01:20 PM

Yes, you need to thin the forest out.

Attached is a PDF showing the effects on a pine plantation, they had 10' and 16' clearances plus a control paddock. But you have to consider each species natural form as to how much space is ideal .... I'd say you'd be looking at a 50% thinning.

Sean Freeman · 23rd October 2009, 02:26 PM

Would advise that if you can ask your father what he was growing the trees for..what was the end product he was hoping to produce?

Anyway, in forestry the desired end product generally drives the management approach...have attached two docs from WA that are fairly basic and lay out what should have gone into the planning stage, and give some indication as to what you might be able to do now to improve the chances of obtaining the end product...so long as you know what that is.

Eric Frei · 24th October 2009, 05:24 PM

I would assume his aim would be sawmill log for furniture being mahogany.

From the 2nd PDF you posted Sean ....

Quote:

Planting density
Initial planting density may be around 1000 seedlings/ha
(3 m spacings). This gives better early tree growth
(younger trees protect one another and height growth is
much better) as well as providing more trees from which
to select from. Most of these trees are culled or thinned to
leave the best 100-200 specimens to grow on into sawlogs.
Thinning
Planting at high densities helps early growth, but trees
must be thinned to allow the better trees to keep growing
at fast rates. Depending on the species, thinning should
start after year 3 or 4, and be continued as the trees grow
bigger.
Manage for fast growth
Growing trees at lower densities (100-400 /ha) allows for
much faster diameter growth. However, thinning a stand
too early will encourage heavy branching, especially in the
tree crowns.
Pruning
Clearwood pruning maintains high wood quality in the
target log by controlling branch size and reducing knot
defects. Thus a joint thinning and pruning regime will
greatly reduce rotation length while maintaining high
quality logs. Form pruning can also be beneficial with
trees that tend to have poor form and heavy branching.
The removal of double-leaders and tight branches can
greatly improve the chances of achieving a final stand of
straight stems without knotty centres.
Final spacing
A final crop of sawlog trees may consist of as few as 100-
200 large trees /ha.
Aim for large logs
For sawlog production, aim for larger diameter logs (>45
cm), as they have the advantages of higher milling
recovery rates, they are cheaper to harvest than skinny logs
(less logs per cubic metre of timber) and mills generally
find larger logs (and the sawn timber from them) easier to
handle.
Depending on the species, the age of the log can effect the
quality of the wood. Juvenile wood and sapwood can have
lower wood densities as well as being inferior in quality to
mature heartwood.
The time it will take to grow a 50 cm diameter sawlog will
depend on the site quality and the thinning and pruning
regime of the stand. Hint - a sawlog 50 cm in diameter and
6 m in length will contain about 1 m3 of wood.
A productive site in the Otways with an ideal management
regime may produce trees 50 cm in diameter within 15
years! Bambra Agroforestry Demonstration Farm has
already achieved this! More commonly however, the aim
is to produce sawlogs over a 25-40 year period.

22nd October 2009, 11:35 PM	#1
mikeyyy I'm new here so be nice Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Philippines Posts: 1	Mahogany Farm help Hi, Im new here and this is my first post. so... hi all. My dad started planting mahogany trees 20 years ago as an investment. he managed to plant about 10,000 trees. the thing is, they seem to not be maturing, i heard from other mahogany farmers that their trees have matured fully in around 15 years time. I think the problem is the trees were planted too close together and they tended to grow thinner and taller as opposed to shorter with a larger trunk diameter. if this is the case, i wonder if there is still a way to correct this, i.e. fixing the spacing of the trees by cutting some down which will then allow the remaining trees to bulk up? anyway, any info will help. im attaching pics to give you experts an idea of what im talking about these are around 10-15 years old the fatter ones are the 20 year olds thanks in advance Attached Thumbnails Last edited by Eric Frei; 23rd October 2009 at 01:12 PM. Reason: uploaded pics to this server as per rule 3.1

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