Current issue: 58(4)
The aim of the study was to assess, through field experiments, the possibilities of using peat briquettes in the seeding of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) in Southern Finland. The briquettes were dug into the soil in the middle of patches of mineral soil. The seeds were covered by a 2-5 mm layer of mineral soil. The seedings were inventoried in the three following autumns.
According to the results, the briquettes were clearly inferior to the control, which was ordinary drill seeding. This was mainly due to the fact that no rain was received after the seeding, and that the third summer from seeding was extremely dry. Abundant germination was observed during the second summer after seeding in both briquette seeding and the control. During more rainy summers the result might have been better.
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The purpose of this study was to compare the development of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) seedlings sown on substrates off milled peat and milled bark. Mille peat, ordinary milled bark, milled inner bark waste, and a mixture of milled peat and milled bark in the ratio of 1:1, were all compared in the plastic greenhouse. In addition, two fertilization applications were used with milled park: ordinary surface fertilization and double surface fertilization. The germination and development were measured twice during the summer.
It is concluded that milled bark seems to be a rather useful substrate for use in plastic greenhouses, as long as its special requirements are taken into consideration. In the first measurement, there were no differences between the treatments, in the second measurements seedlings growing on a mixture of peat and bark were slightly more developed than the others. Growth of the seedlings was slightly better in ordinary milled bark. Double surface fertilization increased disease and mortality compared to ordinary fertilization.
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The development roots of Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) H. Karst.) seedlings was studied in sample seedlings grown in different kinds of sites. In the early stage, the seedling roots grow primarily length. The main root is usually long. If the growth of the root is hindered, the tip of the root dies, and the root system growing from the original root collar remains relatively small; in these cases, the secondary root system becomes more important. In unfavourable conditions the root branches can early on replace the main root. The main root of a germling seems to be less able to seek for free growing space than the main and side roots of older seedlings. When the growth of the root is blocked by some kind of obstacle, it does not often hinder the growth of the seedling. The type of soil influences strongly how the root system grows. In good soil and in humus the root system is regular and richly branched, while in clay and coarse sand the root system was small. Spahgnum moss was good substrate for seedlings, Dicranum undulatum moss little less good, while the seedlings grew poorly on Pleurozium Schreberi.
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The aims of the present study were to determine physical and physio-chemical properties of some Finnish forest tree nursery soils, and to examine relationships between these properties and the amount of organic matter in the soil.
The following soil tillage layer properties of 33 fields belonging to 8 forest tree nurseries were determined: soil particle size distribution, organic matter content, bulk density and density of solids, total pore space, soil water volume at potentials pF 2.0 and 4.2, available water content and air space at potential pF 2.0, active acidity, electrical conductivity index and cation exchange capacities at pH 4.5 and 8.0. The soil texture class of the tillage layer parent material was sand, only in a few cases did higher percentage of silt and clay indicate a morainic nature of parent material. The amount of organic material in the soils varied within wide limits, reflecting differences in amelioration policy between the single nurseries.
Relationships between the physical properties of the soil parent material and those related to fertility were in most cases strongly influenced by the amount of soil organic matter. Soil density values decreased as the organic matter content increased from 2 to 25%, giving rise to the increase in the total pore space. However, the amount of water held at potential pF 2.0 and the available water content did not increase with increasing organic matter content. This was due to the absence of the particle fraction in the sand. Nursery soil amelioration, involving in most cases a mixture of Sphagnum peat with sand, thus gives rise to an increase in the content of drainable water.
Cation exchange capacities were positively correlated with the organic matter content. However, the absolute number of exchange sites expressed as equivalents in the tillage layer did not increase in accordance with the increase in organic matter content due to the influence of the organic matter content upon the ratio of solids in the voids.
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