Growing Ponderosa Pine

[rreinha]

I am growing Ponderosa pines from seedling to later transplant on the hillside.
I am growing them a 2000 feet elevation and will be transplanting them at 5000ft.
The 5000 foot location has no water and will solely rely on the southern California rainfall.
Any advise on being successful on this venture?
Time of year to replant?
Age of seedlings to replant?
thing to do and thing not to do?
Also looking for a good source of bulk seeds

[beenthere]

Welcome to the Forestry Forum.

I'd suggest checking the local resources, such as county or district Foresters. Also, nursery's in the area, as well as CA or USFS nursery's (used to be one near Shasta, CA so suspect there may be others further south). Region USFS Foresters another place to start.

And very well find that some of the many members here will have the exact answer.
Where in Southern CA are you located, and is the area you want to plant already Ponderosa Pine growing land?

[clearcut]

Welcome,

If you are trying to plant Ponderosa pine, where it once existed then you can be successful.

California is large and diverse with significant changes in elevation and climate. We use the concept of Tree Seed Zones to select seeds and seedlings for forest land plantings. Seeds need to be collected from the climate and elevation where they will eventually grow to maturity. They can be raised offsite.

A map of these for southern California can be found here:

     http://frap.fire.ca.gov/data/frapgismaps/select.asp?theme=1


Explore the information on the Cal Fire State Nurseries website:

     http://calfire.ca.gov/resource_mgt/resource_mgt_statenurseries.php

Most of your questions will be answered in the "State Nurseries More Information" links.

Cal Fire offers technical and cost share assistance with reforestation.