scholarly journals Effects of Five Growing Media and Two Fertilizer Levels on Polybag—Raised Camden Whitegum (Eucalyptus benthamii Maiden & Cambage) Seedling Morphology and Drought Hardiness

Forests ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (7) ◽  
pp. 543 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammad Nasir Shalizi ◽  
Barry Goldfarb ◽  
Owen Thomas Burney ◽  
Theodore Henry Shear

In developing countries, tree seedlings are often produced in polybags filled with mixtures of locally available materials. Seedling growth and quality can be affected by the type and amount of these substrates used in the mixture. Differences in seedling growth and quality can also be significantly affected when fertilization is employed during the nursery growing period. In this study, we assessed the effects of five different growing media and two fertilization regimes on nursery growth, seedling morphology and early post-planting response to drought of Eucalyptus benthamii (Maiden & Cambage) seedlings. First, we evaluated the effects of each media by fertilizer treatment combination on morphological attributes during a nursery growing period. Seedlings raised in fertilized media without rice hulls yielded higher growth, root dry mass, shoot dry mass, total dry mass, Dickson quality index (DQI) scores, and number of first order lateral roots (FOLRs). Root to shoot ratio (R:S ratio) was, however, greater in non-fertilized media that contained rice hulls. We then conducted a simulated outplanting and drought hardiness experiment, in which seedlings were planted in 13.2 L containers and irrigated for one month, followed by the imposition of drought stress. Seedlings in fertilized media composed of sand, topsoil and compost showed greater growth than those in rice hull-containing media, during the irrigation phase. With the discontinuation of irrigation and prevention of precipitation reaching the seedlings, seedlings grown in non-fertilized media containing rice hulls survived longer than those in other media. There were no large differences in survival among other media or between fertilized and other non-fertilized seedlings. Seedling total size and shoot height at the time of planting played a major role in survival. Smaller seedlings with smaller shoot sizes and greater R:S ratios survived longer. This study demonstrates that growing media and fertilization can be manipulated to affect seedling morphology in the nursery and, ultimately, seedling performance and survival under water stressed conditions.

HortScience ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 41 (4) ◽  
pp. 1076B-1076
Author(s):  
Jonathan N. Egilla

Four-week-old seedlings of Scarlet eggplant (Solanum integrifolium Poir.), a short-day fruiting vegetable, were grown for 20 weeks in a greenhouse (G/H) from 14 Mar. to 2 Aug. 2005. Mean daily photosynthetic photon flux in the G/H was about 480, 349 and 71 μmol·m–2·s–1 above-, within canopy; and at pot level, respectively in July. Seedlings were grown either in Turface® (fritted clay) or fine sand. Fertilizer treatment consisted of 5 g Osmocote® (18% N-6% P2O5-12% K2O) per pot, plus 100 mL of Peat-lite® (15% N-16% P2O5-17% K2O) solution at 200 mg·L-1 of N twice weekly, or Peat-lite only. Seedling growth (plant height, leaf number) during the first 12 weeks in both growing media was similar regardless of fertilizer treatment. The number of lateral shoots (not fruit number, FRN) increased from early fruit set (week 14) until termination (week 20), but there were no significant (P = 0.05) growing media or fertilizer treatment effects. While root dry mass was similar in both growing media, shoot dry mass was significantly (P < 0.0001) increased in fritted clay. Conversely, FRN and fruit dry mass (FDM) were, respectively, 8- and 11-fold greater in sand compared with fritted clay. Fertilizer treatment had no significant (P = 0.05) effect on both FRN and FDM either in fritted clay or sand. These trends indicate that S. integrifolium can produce limited amounts of fruit under the long daylength conditions of the summer at reduced irradiance, but factors determining shoot growth may have significant influence on fruit yield under this condition.


HortScience ◽  
1990 ◽  
Vol 25 (9) ◽  
pp. 1161f-1161
Author(s):  
John D. Lea-Cox ◽  
Irwin E. Smith

Pine bark is utilized as a substrate in citrus nurseries in South Africa. The Nitrogen (N) content of pine bark is inherently low, and due to the volubility of N, must be supplied on a continual basis to ensure optimum growth rates of young citrus nursery stock. Three citrus rootstock (rough lemon, carrizo citrange and cleopatra mandarin) showed no difference in stem diameter or total dry mass (TDM) when supplied N at concentrations between 25 and 200 mg ·l-1 N in the nutrient solution over a 12 month growing period. Free leaf arginine increased when N was supplied at 400 mg·l-1 N. The form of N affected the growth of rough lemon. High NH4-N:NO3-N (75:25) ratios decreased TDM when Sulfur (S) was absent from the nutrient solution, but not if S was present. Free arginine increased in leaves at high NH4-N (No S) ratios, but not at high NH4-N (S supplied) ratios. Free leaf arginine was correlated with free leaf ammonia. These results have important implications for reducing the concentration of N in nutrient solutions used in citrus nurseries and may indicate that higher NH4-N ratios can be used when adequate S is also supplied.


HortScience ◽  
1998 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 523c-523
Author(s):  
Siegfried Zerche

Refined nutrient delivery systems are important for environmentally friendly production of cut flowers in both soil and hydroponic culture. They have to be closely orientated at the actual nutrient demand. To solve current problems, express analysis and nutrient uptake models have been developed in horticulture. However, the necessity of relatively laborious analysis or estimation of model input parameters have prevented their commercial use up to now. For this reason, we studied relationships between easily determinable parameters of plant biomass structure as shoot height, plant density and dry matter production as well as amount of nitrogen removal of hydroponically grown year-round cut chrysanthemums. In four experiments (planting dates 5.11.91; 25.3.92; 4.1.93; 1.7.93) with cultivar `Puma white' and a fixed plant density of 64 m2, shoots were harvested every 14 days from planting until flowering, with dry matter, internal N concentration and shoot height being measured. For each planting date, N uptake (y) was closely (r2 = 0.94; 0.93; 0.84; 0.93, respectively) related to shoot height (x) at the time of cutting and could be characterized by the equation y = a * × b. In the soilless cultivation system, dry matter concentrations of N remained constant over the whole growing period, indicating non-limiting nitrogen supply. In agreement with constant internal N concentrations, N uptake was linearly related (r2 = 0.94 to 0.99) to dry matter accumulation. It is concluded that shoot height is a useful parameter to include in a simple model of N uptake. However, in consideration of fluctuating greenhouse climate conditions needs more sophisticated approaches including processes such as water uptake and photosynthetically active radiation.


HortScience ◽  
1998 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 523b-523 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erin James ◽  
Marc van Iersel

The quantity and quality of available water in the Southeastern United States continues to decline as demands on limited resources increase. Growers will soon be forced to comply with legal limitations on water consumption and limits on nutrient runoff from their operations. A lack of information on standard growing practices using alternative irrigation systems such as ebb and flow is hindering their acceptance and implementation. We are currently conducting a series of experiments to establish basic growing guidelines for the use of ebb and flow in the greenhouse in bedding plant production. In the third of these experiments, Petunia × hybrida Hort. Vilm.-Andr. `Blue Frost' and Begonia × hiemalis Fotsch. `Ambassador Scarlet' were grown for 5 weeks on ebb and flow tables with fertigation solutions (225 ppm N) containing three different levels of phosphorus (0, 50, and 100 ppm). Three soilless media were also used, which varied in their percentage content of vermiculite, perlite, pine bark and coconut coir. For both the begonias and petunias dry mass of the shoot was greatest in plants grown with higher levels of phosphorus. In comparison to plants grown with 0 ppm phosphorous, petunias and begonias grown with 50 or 100 ppm P were 44% and 25% greater in mass, respectively. However, begonias had 38% more flowers when fertigated with the higher levels of phosphorous while petunias flowered earlier with 0 ppm P fertigation solution. The electrical conductivity of the media did not change significantly over the course of the growing period, but the pH dropped by an average of 1 over the same time interval.


2016 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
MARCUS VINICIUS SANDOVAL PAIXÃO ◽  
JOSÉ CARLOS LOPES ◽  
EDILSON ROMAIS SCHMILDT ◽  
RODRIGO SOBREIRA ALEXANDRE ◽  
CAROLINE MERLO MENEGHELLI

ABSTRACT This study aimed to evaluate the potential of multi-stems in avocado seeds according to their mass as well as the adventitious rooting of multi-stem budding with or without the use of auxin. The research was carried out at the Vegetation House of Federal Institute of Espírito Santo, Campus Santa Teresa -ES, with seeds of different masses: <60 g, 61 to 80 g, 81 to 100 g and >100 g, in which each experimental unit was made of five seeds, distributed within five repetitions, under a completely randomized design. The seeds were put to germinate and the percentage number of emergence and multiple stems were evaluated. After 150 days, the following evaluations were carried out: survival of rooted cuttings; number of leaves; stem diameter; root length; root volume; root and shoot fresh mass; root and shoot dry mass; shoot height; absolute growth and shoot growth rate; shoot dry weight/root dry mass ratio; shoot height/stem diameter ratio; shoot height/root length and Dickson's quality index ratio. Avocado seeds with mass over 100 g and between 81-100 g presented higher percentage of multiple stems. Rods over 20 cm that were not treated with IBA (indole-3-butyric acid) resulted on avocado plants of better quality. The use of IBA (2000 mg L-1) does not affect the rooting and growth of avocado's multi-stem plants.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yanan Duan ◽  
Ran Chen ◽  
Rong Zhang ◽  
Weitao Jiang ◽  
Xuesen Chen ◽  
...  

Apple replant disease (ARD) is a common problem in major apple planting areas, and biological factors play a leading role in its etiology. Here, we isolated the bacterial strain QSB-6 from the rhizosphere soil of healthy apple trees in a replanted orchard using the serial dilution method. Strain QSB-6 was provisionally identified as Bacillus amyloliquefaciens based on its morphology, physiological and biochemical characteristics, carbon source utilization, and chemical sensitivity. Maximum likelihood analysis based on four gene sequences [16S ribosomal RNA gene (16S rDNA), DNA gyrase subunit A (gyrA), DNA gyrase subunit B (gyrB), and RNA polymerase subunit B (rpoB)] from QSB-6 and other strains indicated that it had 100% homology with B. amyloliquefaciens, thereby confirming its identification. Flat standoff tests showed that strain QSB-6 had a strong inhibitory effect on Fusarium proliferatum, Fusarium solani, Fusarium verticillioides, Fusarium oxysporum, Alternaria alternata, Aspergillus flavus, Phoma sp., Valsa mali, Rhizoctonia solani, Penicillium brasilianum, and Albifimbria verrucaria, and it had broad-spectrum antibacterial characteristics. Extracellular metabolites from strain QSB-6 showed a strong inhibitory effect on Fusarium hyphal growth and spore germination, causing irregular swelling, atrophy, rupture, and cytoplasmic leakage of fungal hyphae. Analysis of its metabolites showed that 1,2-benzenedicarboxylic acid and benzeneacetic acid, 3- hydroxy-, methyl ester had good inhibitory effects on Fusarium, and increased the length of primary roots and the number of lateral roots of Arabidopsis thaliana plantlet. Pot experiments demonstrated that a QSB-6 bacterial fertilizer treatment (T2) significantly improved the growth of Malus hupehensis Rehd. seedlings. It increased root length, surface area, tips, and forks, respiration rate, protective enzyme activities, and the number of soil bacteria while reducing the number of soil fungi. Fermentation broth from strain QSB-6 effectively prevented root damage from Fusarium. terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP) and quantitative PCR (qPCR) assays showed that the T2 treatment significantly reduced the abundance of Fusarium in the soil and altered the soil fungal community structure. In summary, B. amyloliquefaciens QSB-6 has a good inhibitory effect on Fusarium in the soil and can significantly promote plant root growth. It has great potential as a biological control agent against ARD.


2013 ◽  
pp. 67-80
Author(s):  
Branislav Kovacevic ◽  
Dragana Miladinovic ◽  
Marina Katanic ◽  
Zoran Tomovic ◽  
Sasa Pekec

The effect of low initial medium pH on shoot and root development of five white poplar (Populus alba L.) genotypes was tested. The shoot height, fresh mass of shoots per jar, dry mass of shoots per jar, number of roots, as well as the length of the longest root were measured and final pH of the media determined, after 35 days of culture in vitro. Three initial pH values of the medium were tested: 3.0, 4.0 and 5.5 as control. Agar solidification at pH 3.0 was not achieved after sterilization in autoclave, but it was successful after sterilizing in a microwave oven. The obtained results indicate that the tested genotypes are able to significantly influence the changes of media pH during culture. The effect of differences among the examined media was significant for biomass accumulation and final media pH. Generally, significantly higher values of fresh and dry shoot mass, shoot height and the longest root length were recorded on a medium with initial pH 3.0 then on a standard medium with pH 5.5.The implications of the obtained results for the improvement of in vitro propagation of white poplars are discussed.


2015 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 91
Author(s):  
Nicha Muslimawati ◽  
Ketty Suketi ◽  
Anas D. Susila

<p>ABSTRACT</p><p>Pohpohan (Pilea trinervia Wight.) is one of indigenous vegetables that grows in the mountain areas of West Java. Propagule availability in large quantities and in a short time can be done with cuttings. However, propagation of Pohpohan by cutting  has  not  been  developed  presently.  The objective  of  the research was  to  obtain  the  best  plant  age,  stem  part,  and growing media  for the growth  of  pohpohan  stem  cuttings.  The  research  was conducted  at the Center  of  Tropical Horticulture Studies Experimental Field Tajur-Bogor, from January to July 2013. The cuttings were taken  from  mother plants  of  3,  4, 5,  and  6  months,  then the  cuttings  were  cut  to  stem tips  (B1), central stem  (B2),  and  stem  base  (B3).  The  were  five  cuttings  per experimental  unit. Experiment were replicated 3 times. Cuttings  were planted in polybag containing topsoil media (M0), rockwool (M1), husk  and  compost (M2),  and  vermicompost  (M3).  The  experiment  was  arranged in Randomized Completely Block Design.  Result of experiment  showed that pohpohan from 4 monthmother plant cut  at  stem  base  grow  in husk and compost  grow  best  (99.06% of living percentages, 100% percentage of rooted cutting  and 11-12 number of leaves).  The cutting of stem tips grown  in husk and compost showed the highest mean for the increase of stem length, 3.94 cm. There were no interaction between growing media of stem cuttings and part of stem in the growth of shoot height, number of branch, leaf width, and diameter of stem. Key words: growing media, indigenous, pohpohan, stem cuttings ABSTRAKPohpohan  (Pilea  trinervia  Wight.)  merupakan salah  satu sayuran  indigenous  yang  banyak tumbuh  di  daerah  pegunungan Jawa Barat. Pemenuhan  kebutuhan  bibit  pohpohan  dalam  jumlah yang  banyak dan dalam  waktu  yang  singkat  dapat  dilakukan  dengan  perbanyakan vegetatif stek. Namun  demikian  perbanyakan  stek  pada  pohpohan  belum  banyak dikembangkan  untuk  saat  ini. Tujuan penelitian ini ialah  memperoleh umur bahan tanaman, bagian batang, dan media tanam yang terbaik  untuk pertumbuhan  stek  batang  pohpohan.  Penelitian  dilaksanakan  di  Kebun Percobaan Pusat Kajian Hortikultura Tropika (PKHT) Tajur-Bogor, dari Januari sampai Juli 2013. Pohpohan yang digunakan yaitu berumur 3, 4, 5, dan 6 bulan, kemudian dilakukan stek batang pada bagian pucuk (B1), tengah (B2), dan pangkal (B3).  Rancangan percobaan yang digunakan ialah rancangan kelompok lengkap teracak.  Setiap satuan percobaan  terdiri  atas lima  stek,  percobaan terdiri atas tiga ulangan.  Stek  dimasukkan  ke  dalam  polibag  dengan  media tanam  topsoil  (M0),  rockwool  (M1), arang  sekam  dan  kompos  (M2), serta kascing  (M3).  Hasil  penelitian  menunjukkan  bahwa  stek pohpohan yang berasal dari tanaman 4 bulan,  bagian pangkal batang dan ditanam pada media arang sekam dan kompos memiliki pertumbuhan yang terbaik dengan rata-rata persentase hidup 99.06%, persentase berakar 100%, dan jumlah daun 11-12 helai. Stek pada pucuk batang yang ditanam pada media arang sekam dan kompos memiliki penambahan panjang batang stek 3.94 cm. Tidak terdapat interaksi antara perlakuan stek pada media tanam dengan bagian batang terhadap perumbuhan tinggi tunas, jumlah cabang, lebar daun, dan diameter batang.</p><p>Kata kunci: indigenous, media tanam, pohpohan, stek batang</p>


2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 860-863
Author(s):  
Naresh Kumar ◽  
A. K. Handa ◽  
Inder Dev ◽  
Asha Ram ◽  
A. R. Uthappa ◽  
...  

The seeds of Albizia lebbeck have been observed to exhibit physical dormancy due to presence of hard seed-coat. To overcome this problem, the seeds were subjected to seven pre-sowing treatments viz., T1-immersion of seeds in cold water for 12 h; T2-immersion of seeds in cold water for 24 h; T3-immersion of seeds in hot water (100 °C) and subsequent cooling at room temperature for 12 h; T4-immersion of seeds in hot water (100 °C) and subsequent cooling at room temperature for 24 h; T5-immersion of seeds in cold water for 12 h followed by immersion in hot water (100 °C) and allowed to cool for 1 h; T6-immersion of seeds in cold water for 24 h followed by immersion in hot water (100 °C) and allowed to cool for 1 h. Untreated seeds served as control (T0). Treatment T3 gave highest germination (96%) which was comparable with T5 (95 %), T4 (94 %) and T6 (93%). Nine growing media viz., T1: soil,  T2: soil+sand (2:1), T3: soil+perlite (2:1), T4: soil+Farm Yard Manure (FYM) (2:1), T5: soil+vermicompost (2:1), T6: soil+sand+FYM (1:1:1), T7: soil+sand+vermicompost (1:1:1), T8: soil+perlite+FYM (1:1:1) and T9: soil+perlite+ vermicompost (1:1:1) were, also, studied for their effect on seedling growth of A. lebbeck. Among these media, maximum values of shoot length (23.82 cm), root length (21.14 cm), collar diameter (3.59 mm) and seedling quality index (0.350) were observed in T7.


2019 ◽  
Vol 47 (4) ◽  
pp. 1400-1408
Author(s):  
Lulu MA ◽  
Qiang ZHANG ◽  
Jiao LIN ◽  
Wei SU ◽  
Caixia YIN ◽  
...  

Due to the indeterminate growth habit of cotton crops, a better understanding of N status at the rational fertilizer regime is important to promote lint yield. The fertilizer-response model was employed to evaluate N status by analyzing data of shoot dry mass, N content and N concentration at different growing stages. A field study was conducted on drip-irrigated cotton plants with N fertilizer addition in total amounts of 0 (N0), 120 (N1), 240 (N2), 360 (N3) and 480 (N4) kg ha-1 in Xinjiang, China in 2016. Thirty percent of total fertilizers were applied at planting and the rest 70% were applied over six applications. The N fertilizer treatment at the accumulative rate of 70 kg ha-1 was enough to induce the N status of steady state accumulation 60 days after germination. Since 90 days the treatments that delivered the N amount between 120 and 240 kg ha-1 was deficient for cotton demand, higher rates from 360 and 480 kg ha-1 induced inherent N reserve and resulted in the highest level of yield. With regard to the practical meaning, the N fertilizer dose of 360 kg ha-1 can be used for cotton growth. The N fertilizer dose of 120 kg ha-1 can be recommended when the yield of 5,840 kg ha-1 lint can meet the goal of cotton culture.   ********* In press - Online First. Article has been peer reviewed, accepted for publication and published online without pagination. It will receive pagination when the issue will be ready for publishing as a complete number (Volume 47, Issue 4, 2019). The article is searchable and citable by Digital Object Identifier (DOI). DOI link will become active after the article will be included in the complete issue. *********


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document