Effect of Different Substrates on Growth and Nutrient Absorption of Cinnamomum chekiangense Seedlings

Abstract

Cinnamomum chekiangense is an important and precious tree species. In vigorously promoting precious tree species for the afforestation, the cultivation of high-quality container seedlings is the key to the success of afforestation, and the seedling substrate directly determines the quality of seedlings. In this paper, 1-year-old seedlings of C. chekiangense were selected as the research object, using potted culture method to study the effects of 5 substrates (yellow soil, sawdust, peat) on seedling plant height, ground diameter, biomass growth and accumulation of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, in order to screen out the suitable substrate ratio for the cultivation of the container seedlings of the C. chekiangense and provide the basis for the cultivation of high-quality container seedlings. The results showed that A3 (yellow soil∶peat∶sawdust=40∶30∶30) substrate was most conducive to the growth of C. chekiangense, and the plant height and ground diameter were significantly higher than A5 (P<0.05). The leaves, branches, roots and total biomass of C. chekiangense cultivated with A3 substrate were largest, which were 33.63, 39.57, 48.43, 121.64 g·plant−1, respectively; significantly higher than other treatments (P<0.05). The accumulation of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium in the whole plant of C. chekiangense cultivated with A3 substrate were the best, which were 3168.8, 137.3, 673.1 mg·plant−1 respectively; Gray correlation analysis method evaluation showed that A3 substrate was the best substrate for the growth of the C. chekiangense container seedlings.