Tending the trees in a Greenhouse

At Juniper, New Brunswick the seeds produced in the orchards are mechanically sown in multi-pot containers filled with peat moss and vermiculite. The four greenhouses each hold 1.8 million seedlings. The first crop, sown in March, is moved to outdoor holding areas in May.

Through the spring and summer, seedlings are shipped from Juniper across the region from northern Maine to south-western Nova Scotia. The seedlings are shipped, 150,000 per load, in temperature-controlled transport trucks designed especially for this cargo.

The second nursery crop is sown in June and stays in the greenhouses until October.

All seedlings are moved from the greenhouses in October and wintered in holding areas. Nursery holding areas are equipped with blackout covers - an electronically-operated curtain suspended on wires that can be pulled across the seedling bed when needed. The curtain is well above the seedling tops and acts like a protective blanket across the entire holding area, some 85 ft by 400 ft (26 m x 122 m).

This cover is used in the summer to shorten the seedlings’ time in daylight. The seedlings react to the shorter day and prepare to go dormant as they would in winter. Nursery staff can then put a snow cover over the seedlings before the deep frost arrives. The cover also is activated at night during late spring and even into the early summer as protection against unexpected frost.

Seeds which have been extracted from cones

Gathering seedlings for shipment