Effects of different culture media on the growth of Indian sandalwood (Santalum album L.) seedlings in Zhanjiang, Guangdong, southern China

Abstract

We studied the effects of different culture media on the growth of India sandalwood (Santalum album L.) seedlings in Zhanjiang, Guangdong Province in southern China. Five different growth substrates, lateritic subsoil, burnt soil, agricultural soil, peaty soil and coconut dust, were used as the basic culture materials and seven different treatments of composition were used as potting media. Kuhnia rosmarinifolia Vent. was used as a primary host plant for all treatments. Statistically significant differences were found between treatments in respects of survival rate (p < 0.001), height (p < 0.001), ground diameter (p < 0.001) and biomass (p = 0.002), as well as for quality index (p = 0.001) of S. album seedlings after 6-month growth in containers with different culture media. Among all treatments, the treatment combining burnt soil, peat and coconut dust in a weight ratio of 1:1:1 plus 2% calcium super-phosphate as basal manure achieved the best performance for most of the seedling growth parameters, including survival rate (98%), height (35.81 cm), ground diameter (0.56 cm), biomass (4.46 g) and quality index (0.65), followed by the treatment using only burnt soil plus 2% calcium super-phosphate as the culture medium (survival rate 86%, height 29.23 cm, ground diameter 0.48 cm, biomass 3.36 g and quality index 0.52), while the treatment using only lateritic subsoil plus the basal manure as the medium obtained the poorest results in survival rate (38%), height (12.04 cm), ground diameter (0.19 cm), biomass (0.26 g) and quality index (0.043). Increasing the proportion of lateritic subsoil in the medium when mixed with peat and coconut dust did not show statistically significant differences in survival, height, ground diameter, biomass nor in quality index. In consideration of cost, using burnt soil plus 2% calcium super-phosphate as basal manure may be the optimum culture medium for large-scale production of Indian sandalwood seedlings in Guangdong, southern China.