Abstract
Observations on growth behaviour of naturally regenerated and irrigated nursery seedlings ofPterocarpus angolensis were made in Morogoro, Tanzania. Following their natural survival strategy, seedlings build up a robust taproot. The above-ground shoot produced in a year dies back in the field during the dry period whereas the taproot expands during the rainy seasons. In the nursery, the type of symbiosis formed by irrigated seedlings was assessed and trials of taproot pruning and fertilization were carried out. Seedlings formed VA mycorrhizae and nodules. Root pruning sharply depressed seedling growth. Fertilization with nitrogen and phosphorus disturbed the shoot/root ratio in favour of the shoots and inhibited nodulation. We concluded that manipulation of the root and the root environment ran contrary to the seedling's own, natural survival strategy.
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Munyanziza, E., Oldeman, R.A.A. Pterocarpus angolensis D.C.: field survival strategies, growth, root pruning and fertilization in the nursery. Fertilizer Research 40, 235–242 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00750470
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00750470