A Half-yearly Peer Reviewed Journal of Bangladesh Forest Research Institute
Seedlings of Pinus caribaea var. hondurensis planted at Keochia Silvicultural Research Station, Chittagong in 1972 reached an average height of 14.0 m and started bearing fruits in 1982. The trees flowered during the months of January- February and cones ripened in August- September of the same year. Some seeds were hand-picked from two selected trees in 1982 and the seeds were extracted from the cones by exposing them in the sun. Germination experiment was carried out with them. The seeds were first tested by floatation process with 85% ethyl alcohol for finding out the empty seeds. After the test, 220 mature seeds were sown in polybags filled up with forest top soil. An appropriate quantity of chemical fertilizer was also applied. The tops of the bags was filled up with mycorrhizal soil collected from pine plantation. Out of 220 seeds 97 seeds germinated (44%). The growth rate was fair in the nursery and in the field their performance was encouraging. 70 seedlings out of 97 germinated ultimately survived (72%).