Pinus merkusii

Pinus merkusii is an evergreen Tree growing to 50 m by 30 m at a fast rate.
It is hardy to zone 10. The flowers are pollinated by Wind.
Suitable for: light , medium and heavy soils, prefers well-drained soil and can grow in nutritionally poor soil. Suitable pH: acid and neutral soils and can grow in very acid soils.
It cannot grow in the shade. It prefers dry or moist soil and can tolerate drought.

Industrial Crop: Hydrocarbon Management: Standard Regional Crop
A plant of the moist tropics, where it is found at elevations from sea level up to 2,000 metres. It grows in areas where the mean annual rainfall is in the range 1,000 - 2,800mm, occasionally to 3,500mm, and the mean annual temperature is 21 - 28°c with a mean maximum temperature of the hottest month of 24 - 32°c and a mean minimum temperature of the coldest month of 18 - 24°c. Pines grow naturally in South-East Asia only in strongly seasonal environments. A strongly light-demanding species. Tolerant of a wide range of soils, including dry sandy soils, gravely soils, red tropical loams , clay soils, alluvial soils and acid ultisols on sandstone which are often poorly drained. It is often found on poor quality, acid soils. Prefers a pH in the range 4.5 - 5.5, tolerating 4 - 6.5. Established plants are drought tolerant. The plant is very wind tolerant. Young plants are quite slow-growing for their first five years, but later grow more rapidly. Harvesting of the resin can start about 15 years after being planted out. Trees can yield 3 - 4 kilos of resin a year, with some reports claiming that older trees can yield up to 30 - 60 kilos of crude gum a year. Old trees can yield 30 - 60 kg of crude gum per year, producing 20 - 40 kg of pure resin and 7 - 14 kg of turpentine per year. In plantations, trees reach sexual maturity when about 20 years old. They bear cones every year, although seed production varies. In plantations, the first thinning is usually carried out in the 9th or 10th year, and about every 5 years thereafter. Rotation cycles of 30 years are needed for optimal timber production. For the production of pulpwood, a cutting cycle of 15 years is usually practised. Mycorrhizae are required for successful growth and to allow seedlings to survive in more adverse sites. The prolonged 'grass stage' often present in young trees means increased weeding requirements when compared to P. Caribaea, P. Oocarpa and P. Kesiya. This is the southernmost occurring pine of all pines, and the only one whose natural distribution extends into the southern hemisphere. Merkus pines of the Asian mainland and the Philippines differ slightly from those of Sumatra: the seedlings have a 'grass stage', the needles are slightly longer, the cones are less cylindrical, and the seeds nearly twice as heavy.