The Fastest Growing Plant

According to Guinness World Records, bamboo is the fastest growing plant. Some species grow at a rate of 3 feet per day or 0.00002 miles per hour!

We need to distinguish between wild trees and those that have been domesticated for rapid wood production. Domesticated trees grown in plantations are genetically selected for rapid growth, and are grown in plantations with added nutrients.

Wild trees

Eastern cottonwood, Populus deltoides, is probably the fastest growing tree in North America. In Mississippi River bottoms, height growth of 10-15 ft per year for a few years are possible. Sustained height growth of 5 ft. height growth and 1 in. diameter growth per year for 25 years is common.

Coast redwood, Sequoia sempervirens, is the fastest growing gymnosperm tree in the world. Open-grown trees may grow 4-6 ft per year in height in the age range of 4-10 years, and 2 ft per year for at least 30 years.

Other fast growing species include willows, Salix spp., other bottomland species such as American sycamore, Platanus occidentalis, and several pines, Pinus spp.

Domesticated trees

Acacia falcata. A tree planted in Sabah, Malaysia, grew 35 ft. 3 in in 13 months, or an average of 1.1 inches in height per day. Fast growing tropical trees have the entire year in which to grow, and would be expected to outgrow temperate trees on an annual basis, even if their instantaneous growth rates are not as high.

Poplar hybrids, Populus spp., have been selected for extremely rapid volume growth. They make their most rapid growth in plantations where they receive adequate fertilization and sometimes irrigation.

Loblolly pine, Pinus taeda, in plantations can grow in excess of 3 ft. in height and 1/2 to 1 inch in diameter per year for the first 10 years. Trees may reach 70 ft. in height and 10 in. diameter within the first 25 years.