Wet tropics

[2Thumbs]

Greetings all.
I have few acres to plant in the wet tropics.(Innisfail area)
Deep soil and well drained including a lower couple of acres which floods occasionally.
I'm fairly new to the tropics and totally ignorant when it comes to tree species that might suit the land.
My hope is that I can grow a mixed forest of cabinet timbers with a few nut/fruit trees too.
The previous owner planted some eucalypts which I havent identified, about 6 years ago. Some of them were 50 -60 ft tall before cyclone Larry pruned them - thats almost unbelievable to me since as I previously grew trees on a block in the Western Australian wheatbelt where the annual rainfall was about 400mm and growth rates very small.
Any suggestions will be most appreciated.
Cheers

[Cliff Rogers]

Have a bit of a dig around in here....

http://www.rirdc.gov.au/programs/aft.html

There is a local group, I'll see if I can find a contact for you & get back to you shortly.

Also try these people. (I do their computer repair/support.)
http://www.biotropica.com.au/projects.html

Also download this pdf (beware, it is almost 2Mb for just 2 pages of info)
http://www.rainforest-crc.jcu.edu.au/infosheets/forestry_plantations.pdf

[2Thumbs]

I've had the briefest of looks, but it looks like a mine of info.
Thanks Cliff

[Cliff Rogers]

More info....

If you are in the Johnstone Shire, there is a reveg unit & you should be able to get their handbook.

There is a Master Tree Growers Course run by Melbourne Uni & they ran a course up here last year but may not run another one for a while.

I have a list of names & phone numbers & e-mail addresses that I will PM to you.

[Cliff Rogers]

One other thing..... the seed stock / resources are becoming very hard to get.

The big players are after large quantities & the G'ubmnet is closing down the access to the forests for the wholesalers. :(

[Clinton1]

Google teak + queensland and you'll get some good info.

Also, have a look at this company:
http://www.rewardsgroup.com.au/cms/rg/pages/products/10-teakproject5/10-teakproject5.html

I don't think you will find a better species for a 20 year rotation plot than teak... the price of teak is quite high and it grows fast.
2nd rotation uses the old root system and will reach the 20 year size in 13 years.

[journeyman Mick]

There will no doubt be a local landcare group. They may be a good source of information and possibly seeds or seedlings. Our local group will inspect properties and suggest suitable species as well as being able to supply seedlings from local seedstock. There's a number of enthusiastic and knowledgable types (2 botanists that I know through our RFB).

Mick

[dadpad]

Greetings all.
I have few acres to plant in the wet tropics.(Innisfail area)
Deep soil and well drained including a lower couple of acres which floods occasionally.
I'm fairly new to the tropics and totally ignorant when it comes to tree species that might suit the land.
My hope is that I can grow a mixed forest of cabinet timbers with a few nut/fruit trees too.
The previous owner planted some eucalypts which I havent identified, about 6 years ago. Some of them were 50 -60 ft tall before cyclone Larry pruned them - thats almost unbelievable to me since as I previously grew trees on a block in the Western Australian wheatbelt where the annual rainfall was about 400mm and growth rates very small.
Any suggestions will be most appreciated.
Cheers

Contact with the local AFG branch may prove fruitful. http://www.afg.asn.au/branches/afg_branches.html (http://www.afg.asn.au/branches/afg_branches.html)

Wet tropics are totally out of my area of expertise

[dadpad]

Google teak + queensland and you'll get some good info.

Also, have a look at this company:
http://www.rewardsgroup.com.au/cms/rg/pages/products/10-teakproject5/10-teakproject5.html

I don't think you will find a better species for a 20 year rotation plot than teak... the price of teak is quite high and it grows fast.
2nd rotation uses the old root system and will reach the 20 year size in 13 years.

Climatic variables explained 59 percent of the variance of the potential yield of teak plantations. Relative humidity and annual rainfall were identified as the most important climatic factors influencing the growth of teak. An increase in their annual values above certain upper limits, however, resulted in successively less increase of the potential yield. These upper limits for rainfall and relative humidity were found to be 2000 mm and 70% per year respectively. The model underestimated the potential yield of teak in Indonesia and Nigeria on average by about 30% and of Ivory Coast by 20% when compared with yield table figures. The model can be used to forecast
potential yield of teak plantations even prior to their establishment, as the crop properties (top height etc.) are not required. It was used to calculate the yield of teak in the moist semi-deciduous and the forest savanna transition in Ghana for example, giving MAI of 12 m3/ha/year and 6 m3/ha/year respectively (Odoom 1998).

http://www.fao.org/forestry/webview/media?mediaId=4602&langId=1

[2Thumbs]

Thank you everybody....lots of resources to trawl through.
I like the idea of growing teak, I've seen some lovely boards to make you drool but outside of the range of my melting credit card.
Average rainfall for Innisfail is about 3,500mm/year so that may impact on tree choice if teak yields are reduced over 2000mm rainfall.
Anyway, lots of food for thought, thanks again.
Cheers Peter

[Clinton1]

The link to the rewards group might yield a few contacts to chat to.

They are successfully growing Teak the Tully area, which gets more rain than your area.

The main thing to do is to use the same rat bait that the banana farmers do, the rats burrow down and eat the roots which act as a energy reserve for the tree.... not baiting + fat rats and small trees.
The good thing about Teak is that it will form a canopy in 3 - 5 years.... allowing you to underplant with slower growing trees.

If rain and waterlogging is an issue, check out the mounding system the banana growers use to raise the bed that the banana's are planted in. Works for them.

[Cliff Rogers]

My local "in the know" contact says "the guy running Rewards Teak plantations on the coast (near us) certainly isn't interested in encouraging others to plant teak, or share their expertise."
I have a (his) name but I don't think it wil help. :D

[Clinton1]

in that case, ring the DPI in Darwin and ask them about their trials... thats where I got my stock from.

Frankly, I probably wouldn't share the info if I was doing a plantation of it... big $ involved

[Ianab]

You might try contacting a guy I know via the forestryforum. He runs Teak plantations in Costa Rica and seem to be getting some phenonomal growth in the fertile volcanic soil there.

http://www.fincaleola.com/contact_information.htm

I dont think the teak is worried about lots of rain, just once it gets over 2,000mm you dont get much gain in growth.

Cheers

Ian

[woden]

Bit OT but I was reading this thread and it has touched on something I've always wondered about - just how tropical are the tropical parts of Australia? I know that sounds like a dumb question but when I think of the tropics I think of jungles in South America like the Amazon rainforest with wet and dry seasons, is northernmost Australia like this too? Is it all jungles and rainforest like in the Amazon? Which if it is would be really amazing.

The image a lot of people have in Ireland is that outside of the cities Austrialia is a dusty, hot and sort of dried up country. What with Ayers rock and all. And yet over the last few years, I dunno whether it's an attempt at rebranding and getting away from the Crockodile Dundee stereotype, there's been a load of adverts showing off holidays in this tropical paradise which happens to be, no not Acapulco... but, er... Australia. Quite a contrast with the image most people have.

You guys must have an amazing diversity of climates all in the one country. Tasmania, which is supposed to be a bit like northern Europe; Perth, where apparently there's a sort of Mediterranean climate and right up in the North you have the tropics. And then everything in between. Lucky sods. :)

[Clinton1]

Tully in Far North Queensland gets about 4 to 4.5 meters of rain a year.

Yes, 90% of Australia is desert, but its a big place so the other 10% covers a wide range of land types.

[Cliff Rogers]

From where I live on a Tableland high up in the mountains close to the coast I can drive through 3 different climates in the matter of hours.
I live 865M (2600ft) above sea level & about 50Kms (30miles) from the coast in the wet tropics. In the wet season, our place looks like Ireland, green rolling hills & drizzle. :D
In the dry season it looks like Tuscany without the castles.
Because we are so high, it is always cool, got to 26°C the day before yesterday for the first time in almost 2 weeks.
One hour to the east is very hot, humid & wet lowland coastal tropics, one hour to the west is hot, dry higher inland tropics but not desert.
We are very lucky. :)

[dadpad]

Bit OT but I was reading this thread and it has touched on something I've always wondered about - just how tropical are the tropical parts of Australia? I know that sounds like a dumb question but when I think of the tropics I think of jungles in South America like the Amazon rainforest with wet and dry seasons, is northernmost Australia like this too? Is it all jungles and rainforest like in the Amazon? Which if it is would be really amazing.

The image a lot of people have in Ireland is that outside of the cities Austrialia is a dusty, hot and sort of dried up country. What with Ayers rock and all. And yet over the last few years, I dunno whether it's an attempt at rebranding and getting away from the Crockodile Dundee stereotype, there's been a load of adverts showing off holidays in this tropical paradise which happens to be, no not Acapulco... but, er... Australia. Quite a contrast with the image most people have.

You guys must have an amazing diversity of climates all in the one country. Tasmania, which is supposed to be a bit like northern Europe; Perth, where apparently there's a sort of Mediterranean climate and right up in the North you have the tropics. And then everything in between. Lucky sods. :)

I live at the base of one of Australias ski resorts. Although temps never fall to the levels of Scandanavia or Canada it can get to minus 6 celcius in winter and 42 celcius in summer. Rainfall here is 750 mm averages but up the mountain an hours drive away it reaches 2000mm.

yes we do know how lucky we are (Australia - the lucky country is a slogan) but the concept of going to a whole nother country only a days drive or ferry trip away with a different langauge and culture that stretches back hundred of years is completly foriegn and almost astounding to me.

The north of Australia does indeed experience wet seasons and dry seasons. And parts of northern costal Australia could be compared to some Sth American rainforest type areas. But its not, Its OZ and we love it!