I want to do is figure out a way to control tree growth to the extent of getting them to grow in minimal time.

[Mike Smith Cosmos]

tylerrsmithh has just approached me with the above Question .

 

 

 

tylerrsmithh said :-

 

 

I want to do is figure out a way to control tree growth to the extent of getting them to grow in minimal time......trees are taking much to long to grow, and literally based on the grow/death ratio they could become extinct. I would hope we could stop this before even coming close, but statistics show a different demise for trees................. is it possible, is it worth it, how could this properly be approached (as regards to where, when, proper funding for the project and so on so forth

 

 

 

___________________________________________________________________________________________

 

___________________________________________________________________________________________

 

 

Answer from : Mike Smith Cosmos

 

 

I am just reading a book given to me by a friend on the Science Forum [see below]

 

 

The initial reasoning is right up your street.

 

Forests are the lungs of our Planet and we are hacking our lungs to bits.

 

You might like to take a step back .

 

LEAVES are the actual interface with the environment. Breathing in Carbon Dioxide and Breathing out Oxygen

 

Leaves are the essential. {See below }

 

.

 

The process of photosynthesis from the Sun Light and the leaf process The Carbon Dioxide to Oxygen factory grinds on . Surplus Energy is stored in the TIMBER part of trees . This we can use later as logs or much , much later as COAL.

 

You need to think, are you after more Carbon Dioxide to Oxygen factories and/or more ENERGY to burn.

If all you want is Carbon Dioxide to Oxygen lungs , you could concentrate on the leaves.

 

This still could be trees , though not necessarily, but may be you do not need all the timber that takes a long time to grow. LEAVES GROW IN A SINGLE SEASON -short time.

 

You can of course grow leaves on trees , which of course is obvious, BUT you could concentrate on Trees that are High in Leaf content but low on Trunk and Timber content. Bushy type Trees ! Just a thought !

 

Mike

Edited July 28, 2013 by Mike Smith Cosmos

[EdEarl]

Bamboo, which is used for building materials, grows faster than trees. However, fast growing softwood trees are already used for building materials. If your interest is only CO2 sequestration and fuel, then algae grows fastest by far. Although, I do not know of any research or commercial venture, algae could be grown and compressed into pellets to heat buildings or for power generation, probably because coal is much less expensive. Considerable research is being done toward growing algae to make biodiesel. Although it is possible, algae oil is not yet viable economically.

[arc]

Mike, this is one of the most under appreciated trees on the planet;

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Populus

 

I have these in my back yard and they grow like weeds.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Populus_trichocarpa

It is a large tree, growing to a height of 30 metres (98 ft) to 50 metres (160 ft) and a trunk diameter of over 2 metres (6.6 ft), which makes it the largest poplar species in the Americas. It is normally fairly short-lived, but some trees may live for up to 400 years. A cottonwood discovered in Haines, Alaska set the national record at 101 ft (31 m) tall and 32.5 ft (9.9 m) around.

 

​There was one in my neighbors back yard that we played around the base of as kids, it was 30 - 40 cm in diameter. Less than 20 years later it was a monster at maybe 150 cm's diameter.

 

We have farming of these trees where adequate water allows. All for paper products. Other uses are leachate control systems for landfills, these are great fast growing multi-purpose trees.

 

[Mike Smith Cosmos]

.

 

tylerrsmithh said

Sent Today, 06:33 PM

 

I just read the post. Keep in mind what i want to do is what is best for the planet/people. By finding the right trees, ones that will grow at the fastest rate without any "outside" help, so that when I do attempt to grow them they will grow even faster. I agree that leaves are mostly as important as the lumber itself, what the plan is here, is to get companies to stop destroying the trees off nature. I see it as we can make all these "plants", such as power plants, to make artificial energy and such yet we haven't even considered to stop destroying the planet that harvest our very own species? It is a bit ignorant and by making these giant greenhouses that can hold 1000's of trees in them that can be perfectly grown I see very good outcomes. Personally, I believe that lumber shouldn't be being used as much nowadays with the style of life and technology we have, but its not like these people in charge of cutting down trees and getting lumber are going to stop completely. This idea just can help the world with the oxygen it can supply and help repair the ozone layer to some extent, and of course it will help to stop us from destroying the world we live in today.

 

Lastly, I have also thought, what if we could figure out a way to get these greenhouses to work in a desert terrain? Eventually we may be able to change the terrain itself. Just a thought though.

 

 

Please reply to Tylerrsmithh

Edited July 28, 2013 by Mike Smith Cosmos

[tylerrsmithh]

BY researching I have figured out that there are 16 elements that are essential for tree growth. These 16 elements are divided into 9 macronutrients and 7 micronutrients. By placing trees in a controlled environment and "feeding" them water with the perfect ratio of mixture (macro/micronutrients) I believe it can enhance the trees growth as regards to how much time it will take for them to become mature and ready to be cut down.

 

This way we can stop destroying our planet and begin to control our destruction of nature with controllable systems like such.

[EdEarl]

Fresh water is becoming scarce as ground water is used for irrigation and global warming melts glaciers. In some places saltwater is underground, and rarely used. It is unfortunate there are no commercial crops that grow in saltwater.

[overtone]

 

 

It is unfortunate there are no commercial crops that grow in saltwater.

Several commercially valuable species of large algae grow in salt water.

 

But the fact that precipitation begins as distilled water limits the available environment for a salt water adapted land organism of any kind, so the field of possibility for happening upon one people can eat or use is very limited to begin with. And for plants the restriction is even more severe: The issue is that water uptake and sequestration is absloutely necessary for all known multicellular organisms on this planet, and the way plants do it is by osmotic gradients - difficult and expensive to maintain in salt water.

 

Trees in general grow quite rapidly compared with most other living beings - the tree back of my deck, for example, is growing faster in absolute terms (the branches are lenghening more in feet) than the pampered and fertilized tomato plants in the pots on that deck. Granted it is a silver maple, world's biggest weed, but even the slower growing species grow faster than most other organisms. A ten year old oak tree beginning from a couple of ounces of acorn planted at an eight pound child's birth will often outweigh and overshadow said child - and by the age of twenty or so, when the child reaches its full anatomical size, amost certainly will. And that is only counting the above ground mass.

 

In trees usefulness often inversely correlates with growth rate - unless all you want from the tree is size, there is usually a tradeoff involving the growth rate.

[tylerrsmithh]

yes I would imagine tree size correlates with my concerns. Considering that the idea here is to grow plantations of trees so that we can stop destroying the "natural" trees that are actually useful/essential to life on Earth, tree size would be a major factor in imposing this sort of idea/technology into use.

 

Although, tree size really won't matter as long as we are growing "large" trees, such as redwoods or something along those lines. What we need to figure out is how to get trees to grow faster and yet still as efficient so that their lumber is still harvestable?

[Mike Smith Cosmos]

yes....

 

You may be standing at the entrance of a wonderful tunnel of opportunity...... Follow your passion !

You have the natural world crying out for trees or green growth. You have a goodly proportion of the world population who are crying out for save the planet. The money is there .. It just needs individuals with initiative and drive like you have. //// Follow your passion !

 

Mike

 

http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=i&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&docid=vIbkGBQK56CqNM&tbnid=vFnS3DlGBfNTMM:&ved=0CAgQjRwwAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Floadpaper.com%2Fid43386%2Fgreen-forest-1920x1080-pixel.html&ei=z4P5Ua_CBbO10QW3loGQCQ&psig=AFQjCNE64FdWS6SbNElIiIBDn-gSIJPdBA&ust=1375393103142745

 

Edited July 31, 2013 by Mike Smith Cosmos

[Mike Smith Cosmos]

 

You may be standing at the entrance of a wonderful tunnel of opportunity...... Follow your passion !

 

 

Money Try Paul Gates Foundation or George Soroff I' m sure they would love to help .

Edited August 1, 2013 by Mike Smith Cosmos

[tylerrsmithh]

Just looked up both, neither were able to be found? Not sure why, I copy and pasted them so spelling was right. Nonetheless, Mike it is obvious that this sort of research is becoming necessary, now that trees are becoming less and less available to us. Funding is all I need and I can carry it out myself, with a great team as well, the entire world could be changed.

[Mike Smith Cosmos]

Just looked up both, neither were able to be found? Not sure why, I copy and pasted them so spelling was right. Nonetheless, Mike it is obvious that this sort of research is becoming necessary, now that trees are becoming less and less available to us. Funding is all I need and I can carry it out myself, with a great team as well, the entire world could be changed.

 

 

Yes! .Well ! It will take a bit of digging to get to them. Otherwise they would have every Tom, dick, or Harry come looking for money.

 

Bill Gates was head of The Microsoft Giant organisation. George Soros . a huge finance trader . Sorry got both names spelled wrong in previous post [ Sorry ! Chump that I am ! ] He [ George Soros ] can't give money away in charities quick enough before his money makes more money . You will have to dig. Their money will be in " Foundations " . But with a project like you are talking about , you will ultimately reach them .

 

You will need a well articulated story though. !

 

Let me know how you get on . Go For It !

 

Mike

 

Edited August 2, 2013 by Mike Smith Cosmos

[tylerrsmithh]

You are a huge help,

 

People like Mike should be blessed, this man will do anything for the common good! We need more people like you!!!

 

Thank you to everyone else who is posting useful information, keep it coming, and if you are interested in helping me out at all or being apart of the project send me an email smithhtylerr@gmail.com

[EdEarl]

The rain forests are being cleared for lumber, farming and ranching. They provide hardwood, which is expensive and not used much for framing, siding, and roofing. Hardwoods are used for interiors, such as flooring, walls and stairs; however, bamboo wood is hard as oak, beautiful, and fast growing. Hardwoods are generally slow growing. Thus, there are ecologically sound options for building homes and offices. Unfortunately, that will not stop rainforest deforestation, which will continue for farming and ranching. Since ranching consumes about 8x more land per meal than vegetables, people would have to become vegan to stop ranching, and that is not likely. Although, it would save much rainforest.

Edited August 3, 2013 by EdEarl

[tylerrsmithh]

The rain forests are being cleared for lumber, farming and ranching. They provide hardwood, which is expensive and not used much for framing, siding, and roofing. Hardwoods are used for interiors, such as flooring, walls and stairs; however, bamboo wood is hard as oak, beautiful, and fast growing. Hardwoods are generally slow growing. Thus, there are ecologically sound options for building homes and offices. Unfortunately, that will not stop rainforest deforestation, which will continue for farming and ranching. Since ranching consumes about 8x more land per meal than vegetables, people would have to become vegan to stop ranching, and that is not likely. Although, it would save much rainforest.

So you are inferring that if I was to try and grow any sort of tree in minimal time, then I would need to grow bamboo? I agree that stopping the deforestation of the rainforest is nearly impossible, since all the uses of deforesting it, nonetheless I believe stopping the deforesting everywhere as regards to for the lumber, is the main focus.

[EdEarl]

Much lumber used for home construction is from farmed trees, and continual research and selection has resulted in fast growing trees. Continued research and selection will improve that trend.

 

Bamboo is actually a giant grass. The species used for building materials typically grow in different environments than softwoods; thus both will continue to be important crops.

[tylerrsmithh]

Much lumber used for home construction is from farmed trees, and continual research and selection has resulted in fast growing trees. Continued research and selection will improve that trend.

 

Bamboo is actually a giant grass. The species used for building materials typically grow in different environments than softwoods; thus both will continue to be important crops.

That is what I want to do, researching to figure out how to establish a minimal growth period. So as a whole we can stop destroying forests and plant and harvest trees as crops. Home construction is clearly going to continue in the future, figuring out a way to provide the lumber in a more efficient and environmental way is key.

 

May I ask EdEarl, what do you think is essential to the configuration of such an idea? How do we make this a reality? Wouldn't you agree that the way we harvest our lumber now is costing us much more in the long run?

[EdEarl]

I am not a botanist; thus, I am not qualified to comment on your questions about "essential to the configuration" and "How do w make this a reality?" AFAIK botanists are making it a reality, and tree farms, such as the ones that grow Christmas trees, provide renewable lumber for many uses. The main problem seems to be in rain forests, where trees are being cut without replanting. I have no idea how this practice can be stopped or modified. It requires foreign governments to take action, and in many cases they seem unwilling or incapable of doing anything in this regard.The other end of the supply-demand chain is to change people who believe using teak and other exotic woods is a bad idea. I do not know how to change those people either. But, the larger problem is slash an burn agriculture, which destroys forests with no plans of replanting and the trees are merely burned. I do not know how to convince people that eating less meat is a good idea, not even my own children.

 

Increasing growth rates in rainforest hardwoods may be possible, but the overall effect will be minimal for many decades if it can be done. And, will have no effect when forest is cut or burned for farm and ranch land.

[Mike Smith Cosmos]

....... Wouldn't you agree that the way we harvest our lumber now is costing us much more in the long run?

 

 

Perhaps more publicity about what we are actually doing to our planet.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

If the Whole Planet were considered to be a Single Human Being .

Then the deforestation is like : -

 

CUTTING PART OF YOUR OWN LUNGS OUT

( THE LEAVES ON THE TREES )

 

and

 

THINNING RIGHT DOWN ONE OF YOUR LEG BONES.

(THE LUMBER - WOOD )

 

There should be an Earth Government Health Warning put out

 

How CRAZY IS THIS !

 

.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Mike

Edited August 6, 2013 by Mike Smith Cosmos

[tylerrsmithh]

EXACTLY. I am so baffled that people don't sincerely care to change this about the world? Why let it happen, I mean lets be honest, is there anything more important than our planet itself? No planet, no us. No survival. literally, we don't just adapt and evolve to the way the world changes, considering the amount of time we would have to have to adapt to lower oxygen levels, at the rate we are destroying trees (lungs of the planet) and the rate it takes to adapt to such a large change in our biological chemistry, we pretty much are doomed, are we not? I don't mean to incite fear, but this is a bigger problem than we really think.

 

People here at scienceforums should be a little more concerned and examining of this thread..in my personal opinion.

[aclinville]

I am a student at the University of Nebraska - Lincoln and I am studying Environmental Studies and Plant Biology. Right now I am in an independent plant science lab that encourages experiments on the growth of plants.

 

My overall goal with the experiment I am doing now is to test the impacts of Ethanol (E10) on common prairie plants (Common plants to Nebraska). I will be using different dilutions of the Ethanol and simply watering them on to common milkweed.

 

I want to know what the impacts of our daily live driving to and from work, to stores, and for fun can do if there happens to be runoff from the roads into the water source of our plants. That is how I came up with Ethanol; also there are a lot of studies on Diesel fuel on plants. I would like to understand the effects of the ethanol on plants as well as hopefully teach others of the impacts to create a more environmentally friendly world.

 

Since plants are a major part of our ecosystem I believe that they need more help in being protected because if we don’t then we are going to have a bad time.

 

If anyone else has any ideas on how to improve or edit what I am doing or if anyone thinks that this is an interesting topic!

[Mike Smith Cosmos]

Hi aclin ,

 

Sounds like you have a good project there. And a good attitude to wanting to look after the planet. The chap flinging his arms about , came to me saying he wanted to grow lots of trees and he wanted lots of sources of money to do so.

The book highlighted " the emerald planet " points at trees as being the earths "lungs" . I thought that was brilliant, and anyone thinking of doing things with trees, like you . Is think leaves. Think of the tree as an open lung if that does not sound too crazy. Think of all the breathing either going on or being cut down or choking on fumes. Now think how can we get more leaves breathing.

 

Mike

Edited March 8, 2014 by Mike Smith Cosmos