Responses of Young Slash Pine on Poorly Drained to Somewhat Poorly Drained Silt Loam Soils to Site Preparation and Fertilization Treatments

Abstract

Slash pines (Pinus elliottii Engelm. var. elliottii) were planted on poorly drained Wrightsville and somewhat poorly drained Vidrine silt loam soils in southwest Louisiana. Neither flat disking nor bedding increased pine growth and yield substantially after nine growing seasons, but broadcast application of triple superphoshate increased pine productivity on both soil types. On the Vidrine soil, slash pine diameter at breast height (d.b.h.), total height, volume per tree, and volume per acre averaged 4.4 inches, 24 ft, 1.7 ft3, and 890 ft3/acre, respectively, over all treatments. On the Wrightsville soil, values of these variables averaged 3.8 inches, 19 ft, 1.0 ft3, and 350ft3/acre, respectively, over all treatments. The incidence of fusiform rust galls on the main stem, which are caused by Cronartium quercuum (Berk.) Miyabe ex Shirai f. sp. fusifofme, averaged 28 percent across both soils, which is below average for slash pine in the West Gulf Coastal Plain.