CPS Tangent
Oregon not only holds first place in the nation for grass seed production, we are also number one in Christmas tree production. According to the National Christams Tree Association 2007 reports, Oregon growers raise Christmas trees on nearly 67,000 acres and harvested 6.85 million trees for the Christmas season that year. In 2007 Oregon had nearly 40% more Christmas tree acreage than the second place Michigan and harvested nearly double the number of trees than second place North Carolina. We are a big player in Christmas tree market. Here is a 2008 report of Christmas tree production in Oregon compiled by USDA.
Most Christmas trees in the Willamette Valley are planted without starter fertilizer. The red mountain soils we have around the edges of the Valley are very low in phosphorous. The mycorrhizae that colonize the trees roots and mine the soil for phosphorous and other nutrients is abundant but it takes time for it to become established with a new planted tree. Christmas trees are usually transplanted from the nursery to the field in the spring which can result in a stressful summer if we don't get a few rain showers or we have a dry fall.

Christmas trees are harvested and sold based purely on how they look; color, shape, fullness, height, etc. This can be fairly subjective and thus difficult to quantify in a trial. The last couple years of a tree's life in the field are very important. The last two to three years of growth are what we as consumers see in the tree lot. Diseases, chemical damage, insect damage, or drought stress are some of factors that can cause a tree to be unfit for market. The whole purpose of this trial is to see if we can affect the last couple years of growth by giving the seedling Christmas trees a good head start.
We'll be watching these trials for the next couple years so I will write an update once in a while when we start to see something interesting.