Studies on Refinement of Container Size and Potting Mixture for Production of Quality Seedlings in Spruce (&amp;lt;i&amp;gt;Picea Smithiana&amp;lt;/i&amp;gt; Wall. Boiss)

J A Mugloo,S N Zaffar,K N Qasir,A H Mughal,Gowher Parrey,P A Khan

doi:10.4236/ojf.2015.57065

Abstract

Spruce (Picea Smithiana) is an evergreen tree and distributed through the temperate Himalaya at the elevation of 2000 - 3500 m. Natural regeneration of spruce (Picea smithiana) is generally slow and almost negligible due to a number of factors e.g. presence of un decomposed raw humus on forest floor low germinative capacity of seed and infrequent good seed years. In order to supple- ment natural regeneration through artificial means, nursery raising assumes significance. The present study aimed at optimizing the root trainer container size and the potting mixture ingre- dients and their proportion for the production of quality nursery stock of Picea smithiana. Nine combinations of potting mixture ingredients (Forest Soil, Garden Soil, Sand, FYM and Lake weed) were tested in various ratios for the optimization of potty mixture in different root trainer sizes. Simultaneously, three different volumes (150cc, 250cc and 300cc) of root trainers were tested for suitability of container size. Chemical and physical analysis of potting mixture ingredients was carried out for better understanding of nutrient status. The best seedling growth at seven month age in terms of height (5.53 cm), Collar diameter (1.57 mm), fresh shoot weight (0.34 g), dry shoot weight (0.10 g), fresh root weight (0.27 g) , dry root weight (0.03 g), root shoot ratio(2:52), and total fresh biomass (0.61 g) were observed when seedlings were raised in root trainer container size (300cc) filled with potting mixture of (M8) Soil:Sand:FYM (1:1:2) and the lowest growth para- meters were observed in root trainer container size (150cc) filled with forest soil only. Plantable quality seedlings can be recovered within a period of 7 months using potting mixture of Soil, Sand and FYM (1:1:2) and Soil, Sand and Lake weed (1:1:2) ratios in root trainer container size 300cc. * Corresponding author.

Highlights

The Himalayas is the home of conifers and constitutes one of the most divergent and economically important group of species
Suitable root trainer potting mixture is necessary for the production of high quality seedlings for large scale plantation programmes (Hossain, 1995)
It is evident from the data (Figure 1) that maximum plant height (4.53 cm) collar diameter (1.98 mm) fresh shoot weight (0.26 g), dry shoot weight (0.06 g) fresh root weight (0.22 g), dry root weight (0.03 g), root : shoot ratio (2:15) and total biomass (0.48 g) resulted when seedlings were raised in root trainer size 300cc

Summary

Introduction

The Himalayas is the home of conifers and constitutes one of the most divergent and economically important group of species. The conifer species especially Deodar (Cedrus deodara), Kail (Pinus wallichiana), Fir (Abies pindrow) and Spruce (Picea smithiana) are distributed at an altitudinal line one above the other in tiers, in pure or in mixed species combination These species form extensive forests of economic value in Himalayas. The natural regeneration of spruce (Picea smithiana) is generally slow and almost negligible due to a number of factors e.g. presence of undecomposed raw humus on forest floor low germinative capacity of seed and infrequent good seed years. The regeneration of these forests, is not keeping pace with the removal of tree species and this problem has resulted in the depletion of growing stock over the large area. Keeping in view the limitations of traditional nursery techniques and increase demand of Picea smithiana seedlings in afforestration programme, the present study was aimed to optimize potty mixture ingredients, their proportion and root trainer container size for quality seedlings of Picea smithiana in a short period

Methods

Results

Conclusion