Growth of four Acacia species in various growing media and container sizes: Experiment II [polybags; growth parameters]
1994
Al-Mudaris, M.A.
Due to ever-hardening municipal-waste disposal problems and the need for sound nursery policies in media and container optimization, especially for shrubs and trees, a study was conducted to evaluate the effect of various growth media and polybag sizes on four species of relevance to the Jordanian landscape. Acacia aneura, A. farnesiana, A. saligna and A. victoriae seedlings were grown in five media. These were sewage sludge + sand + soil (50:25:25) (V:V:V), Pine-forest soil + sand + soil (50:25:25), Oak-forest soil + sand + soil (50:25:25), Perlite + sand + soil (50:25:25), and sand + soil (50:50) (control). Each species and medium was tested in 3 polybag sizes: (40x30x10)cm3 (Height x Width x Depth), (30x20x10)cm3, and (33x25x10)cm3. Growth parameters were employed in assessing results. These included plant height, stem diameter, fresh weight of shoot, dry weight of shoot, fresh weight of root, and dry weight of root. Results indicated clear superiority of the sewage sludge-based medium over all other media since Acacia seedlings attained a height of 116.1 cm after one years' growth. Also, Pine-forest soil and perlite-based media were promising with final plant heights of 69.5 and 64.6 cm respectively. Oak-forest soil, however, was rather disappointing with clear inhibition to growth. Regarding polybag size, results showed that (40x30x10)cm3 polybags gave the best growth in comparison with the other two smaller size categories. Also, and in respect to species, A. farnesiana gained the most vigorous growth among the four species tested with a final height of 79.8 cm. In light of the results obtained, nurserymen are encouraged to raise the mentioned species in a sewage sludge-based medium in (40x30x10)cm3 polybags
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