SEED PRETREATMENTS AND NURSERY REGIMES FOR RAISING MACEDONIAN PINE (PINUS PEUCE GRISEBACH)

Four nursery experiments were carried out between 1984 and 1989 to inv estigate ways of improving the germination and growth of Pinus peuce s eedlings. In each of three germination experiments, the highest germin ation percentage was achieved with the longest duration of stratificat ion. In the same experiments, better germination was usually achieved using alternating warm (c. 20 degrees C) and cold (2 degrees C) pretre atments rather than cold pretreatment alone. The treatments that gave the best germination were generally those which provided the best heig ht growth. In an experiment examining the effect of different nutrient s upon the growth of 1-year-old seedlings, height and root collar diam eter were increased in the presence of nitrogen. However, these parame ters were depressed by the presence of phosphate, potassium and magnes ium.