Grow tree seedlings

Commercial forestry and reforestation

The perfect environment for tree seedings

Utilise a precision-controlled environment for high-quality, locally produced tree seedlings with significantly quicker growth cycles.

Meeting existing demand from both the commercial and government sectors for tree seedlings is incredibly important not only for the businesses involved, but also for the planet. IGS’ vertical farming technology can grow seedlings far faster than existing methods in a bio-secure environment. This helps to maximise germination and seedling survival rates while minimising the risk of pests and disease.

The challenges

Common issues facing tree seedling producers

Low and uneven germination rates

Significant losses across the industry, with limited availability of required tree seeds.

Growth cycles

Long cycles due to reliance on seasonality.

Disease and pests

Forests are being lost due to disease and pests (such as the bark beetle), with seedlings particularly vunerable.

Labour costs

Labour costs are increasing globally, with seasonality further reducing the available workforce.

Low volume of seedlings

Productivity and extreme weather losses mean only a small volume of seedlings reach maturity.

Poor survial rates

Poor survival and germination rates leads to significant productivity losses.

Long lead times

Existing practices take many years to produce seedlings, creating significant risk and uncertainty for nurseries forecasting demand years ahead.

The IGS advantage:

Future-proof your production

Higher germination rates

Control every environmental variable and enable far higher and more consistent germination rates.

Faster growth cycles

Grow conifers 600% faster, and broad leaves 30% faster. This enables far more accurate forecasting and reduces uncertainty for growers.

Biosecurity

Seedlings are grown disease and pest free, isolated from the outside environment. This decreases waste and improves seedling health, allowing for precision breeding and plant tissues culture growing methods.

Reduced labour costs

IGS Growth Towers’ have integrated automation and minimise human labour costs with commercial off-the-shelf equipment. Seedlings can be grown using a variety of substances.

Energy efficient

Our systems are one of the most efficient in the industry, with over 25 patents on energy efficient technologies .

Increase volume of seedling production

Being weather and climate independent, IGS Growth Towers can help to grow many more trees than traditional methods.

These are just a few examples of trees we have successfully grown at our Crop Research Centre.

Trees we have trialled

Rowan

Silver birch

Oak

Alder

Who we help

Forestry

Grow in a precision-controlled environment for the highest quality, locally produced tree seedlings with significantly quicker growth cycles.

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Energy producers

Redirect your energy to a vertical farm for a more efficient, stable commercial agreement.
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Pharmaceutical  

IGS vertical farms can produce high quality, consistent raw materials as inputs for products.

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IGS x Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS)

Case Study

FLS collaborated with IGS to research how controlled indoor environments can optimise seedling growth and maximise survival rates once trees are planted out. This was to help them meet their climate and forestry goals.
Key findings include:
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  • Conifers grow to 75 mm 600% quicker than traditional systems
  • Higher germination rates across all species
  • Broad-leaves grow 20 to 40 cm spec in 10 weeks (as opposed to 14 weeks)
  • Higher survivability across all species

How an IGS vertical farm can help you create a hybrid growing solution


Download our guide to find out more.

Interested in learning more about our systems?

Discover our resources from blogs and guides to webinars and press releases.