Influence of substrate kind and cultivation technology on quantitative characteristic of spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) seedlings´ root systems: comparison between quantitative traits.

Abstract

This work deals with evaluation of influence of four different management methods and substrate types on basic quantitative parameters of root systems in one-year old spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) seedlings. There were tested differences between three alternatives consisting of bare-rooted plants and one variant of ball plants grown under applying the technique Lännen Plantek. The bare-rooted seedlings were cultivated in pure peat substrate (control) and in peat substrates supplemented with alginite and Baktomix. The tested traits were the following: root system weight, length, surface, volume, mean diameter and number of endings. For testing differences between the mean values of these characteristics, we used variance analysis. There has been found that in all the evaluated traits, the highest values were obtained with using the method Lännen Plantek. These values were several times higher that the next lower value. The variability of the measured values was about 30%. The lowest mean values were obtained in case of the peat substrate enriched with alginite. There is supposed that alginite caused water-logging of substrate and significantly retarded growth under the wetting regime favourable for all the other variants.