Longleaf pine wood and straw yields from two old-field planted sites in Georgia
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Little is known or published concerning longleaf pine’s growth rate, or wood and pine straw yields on old-field sites. Two study areas were installed in unthinned longleaf plantations established on former old-fields in Screven and Tift Counties, Georgia to address pine growth and straw yields. Soil series were delineated and replicated plots with three levels of fertilization (control = no fertilizer, a NPK single dose, and a NPK split dose) were imposed at each site. This paper will focus on longleaf pine stand growth and wood yields through age 21-years and pine straw yields through age 23-years. The results indicate that these two old-field longleaf pine stands without fertilization were growing at a rate of 203 cubic feet per acre per year at Tift County site and 221 cubic feet per acre per year at the Screven County site through age 21-years. Mean annual increments for all treatments at both sites were increasing from age 17- through age 21-years. Mean dbh values ranged from 8.8 inches (control at Tift County site) to 9.5 inches (split NPK at the Screven County site) through age 21-years. Mean tree heights through age 21-years ranged from 59.1 feet (single NPK dose at the Screven County site) to 60.8 feet (control and split NPK dose at the Tift County site). Pine straw yields without fertilization averaged 4306 pounds (dry weight) per acre per year from ages 15- through age 23-years at the Screven County site and 3764 pounds per acre (dry weight) at the Tift County site from ages 17- though 23-years. Fertilization did not significantly improve longleaf pine growth parameters during the reported study period. Pine straw yields were significantly improved with fertilization at both sites generally two and three years after application becoming non-significant compared to the control in the fourth year after treatment.