Growing Your Own Mini Sustainable Forest Using Biodiversity and Agroforestry – The Planting

3 in a Series

Planting

Cleaning of the land is mainly to remove growth that will interfere with the new seedling.  Vines are not friendly and should be removed.  

If you plant too soon the mortality rate will exceed 80%.    

Even when planted properly you will have a mortality rate of nearly 40% during the first three years. 

Each mortality, mostly from lack of water and even from thirsty rats that destroy the tiny trunk to chew the remaining moisture from within,
must be replaced the following planting season (wet season).  Amazingly, the replacement’s growth will catch up to its older siblings and complete the canopy. 

After 3 years the mortality rate of the saplings drops to less than 1%.  They will then be healthy trees standing on their own, but these seedlings illustrated above were planted too young and nearly all did not make it.

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