Silva Tree

Seedling shipment sent to Panama

Updated on Wednesday 3rd of February 2010

Keren Katz

Paulownia seedlings are grown in a warm and humid environment until they reach the size of approximately 10-20 cms. This is the optimum size for them to be transported; they are big enough to survive transit but not too big to fit into transportation boxes efficiently.

Due to winter temperatures in Georgia, the young trees have to be kept in a warm greenhouse to make sure they do not go into hibernation. They then have to acclimatise to the hot dry conditions they meet upon arrival in Panama. The next batch of planting is scheduled for the end of February following the extensive acclimatisation period.

Plans are being made to accelerate the seedling production by building a micro-propagation laboratory onsite at the Princess Project Panama. This would reduce the transport and acclimatisation timeframe and costs, not to mention the Carbon footprint.

Research for a laboratory is underway and a decision about construction will be announced by the end of the month. If the lab goes ahead, it will create employment for up to 30 people.

Source: Silva Tree