DoomsdaysCWOn a related note, @MaQuest ...
In #Thailand, a cheap bottle crate hack gives #tree #saplings a fighting chance
Ruth Kamnitzer
21 Nov 2025
Excerpt: "Elliott and colleagues had seen examples of air pruning systems while touring nurseries in Australia, and previous studies have shown that air pruning can be beneficial for a number of tropical tree species. However, in Thailand, specialized air pruning equipment has to be imported and is prohibitively expensive.
"So instead, the researchers cast around for a local solution. The answer was in plain sight.
" 'If you go to a bar in the countryside, you know, a little restaurant, out the back there’ll be a rubbish pile full of disused bottle crates,' Elliott says. 'You can [also] go down to the #recycling shop and buy them really cheaply.'
"Each bottle crate fits about 12 bags with saplings, and the structure creates a gap of 2 centimeters (nearly an inch) at the bottom. The researchers wondered if this gap would be enough to create air circulation for air pruning.
"To test the idea, they raised saplings of five native tree species using three different methods: in crates placed directly on the ground; in crates placed on wire benches (for improved air flow); and the conventional method of a polyurethane bag on the ground. They then planted the saplings in a deforested site within #PraBangKhram #WildlifeSanctuary in southern Thailand."
