Abstract
As a multiple function tree species, Cyclocarya paliurus (Batal) Iljinskaja is mainly planted and managed for timber production and medical use. To improve the seed use efficiency and outplanting performance of C. paliurus, the effects of container types and growth medium on the seedling growth and root morphology of C. paliurus were investigated by using a completely randomized block experimental design with a 4 × 3 factorial arrangement during nursery culture. Both container type and growth medium significantly affected the growth, biomass, and root morphological indexes of C. paliurus seedlings, but container size had a greater effect on the seedling quality of C. paliurus than the growth medium formula. The root-collar diameter and height of the seedlings were positively and significantly correlated with the biomass variables and root morphological variables, and could be considered essential attributes for evaluating seedling quality. Based on the results from this study, the management regime used here in C. paliurus seedling production is suggested to ensure good quality seedling delivery. Our study provides not only valuable insights into the container seedling culture of C. paliurus, it also enables nursery managers to optimize seedling production.
Highlights
Seedling quality is critical to the ability of seedlings to survive extended environmental stresses and produce vigorous growth following outplanting
Our results showed that both container type and growth medium significantly affected the growth, biomass, and root morphological characteristics of C. paliurus seedlings, except for mean root diameter (Tables 2 and 4)
Results from the present study showed that the root-to-shoot biomass ratio of the seedling was not significantly impacted by the container type and growth medium (Table 2), which suggests a similar phenotypic response to culturing practices during the nursery stage, in agreement with the result reported by Aghai et al [11] for western larch
Summary
Seedling quality is critical to the ability of seedlings to survive extended environmental stresses and produce vigorous growth following outplanting. The morphological criteria for assessing seedling quality can be manipulated by nursery cultural practices [7], and the impact of nursery management practices on seedling quality has been studied on various plant species [8,9,10,11]. Most of these studies were conducted in research station settings far from actual nursery production conditions [7]. Some disadvantages exist in Forests 2017, 8, 387; doi:10.3390/f8100387 www.mdpi.com/journal/forests
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