Wet storage for discolouration protection during roundwood storage of three Swedish hardwoods

Discolouration progressing from the end surfaces is a wood quality problem that arises when storing hardwood logs during summer. Wet storage (water sprinkling) is used for protecting stored softwood logs, but experience of wet storing hardwoods is limited. To test the benefit of wet storing hardwoods, logs of Betula pendula/pubescens, Alnus incana/glutinosa, and Populus tremula were wet and dry-stored during 12 summer weeks in southern Sweden to compare the development of discolouration. The discolouration was measured visually during storage in split logs. Wet storage was found to significantly reduce discolouration in the stored logs of all species, with the reduction being most pronounced for birch.