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Nursery fertilisation affects the frost-tolerance and plant quality of Eucalyptus globulus Labill. cuttings

La fertilisation en pépinière affecte la tolérance au froid et la qualité des plants bouturés d’Eucalyptus globulus Labill

Annals of Forest Science volume 64, pages 865–873 (2007)Cite this article

Abstract

Eucalyptus globulus is widely used in productive exotic plantations but the expansion of these plantations is limited by low temperatures, as its cold hardening capacity is limited (0.5 to 3.0 °C). It is not well understood how nursery fertilisation affects the field performance of plants. This led us to study the effect of three mineral nutrients (N, P and K) on both plant quality and frost tolerance. The experiment comprised eight growth treatments in which a high dose (H-) or a low dose (L-) of each nutrient was applied. Nitrogen was the nutrient that determined shoot growth, new root growth after transplanting (root egress), frost tolerance and field performance. Performance was better with treatment H-N than with treatment L-N, leaf nitrogen contents being 1.53 and 0.89% respectively. The effects of phosphorus and potassium were not significant between treatments for any parameter. The exception was P which, when interacting with N, favoured root egress for the H-N treatment. It was concluded that nursery fertilisation offers a management tool for eucalyptus growers concerned with plant stock quality.

Résumé

Eucalyptus globulus est largement utilisé dans des plantations exotiques productives, mais l’expansion de ces plantations est limitée par les basses températures, étant donné que l’endurcissement potentiel au froid de cette espèce est limité (0,5 à 3,0 °C). On ne comprenait pas bien comment la fertilisation en pépinière pouvait affecter la performance en plantation des plants. Ceci nous a amené à étudier l’effet de trois nutriments minéraux (N, P et K) sur la qualité des plants et la résistance au froid. L’expérimentation a comporté huit traitements pour l’étude de la croissance pour lesquels une forte dose (H-) ou une faible dose (L-) de chaque nutriment a été apportée. L’azote a été le nutriment qui a déterminé la croissance de la pousse, la croissance de nouvelles racines après transplantation (émission de racines), la résistance au froid et la performance en plantation. Les performances étaient meilleures avec le traitement H-N que avec le traitement L-N, la teneur en azote des feuilles atteignant respectivement 1,53 et 0,89 %. Les effets du phosphore et du potassium n’ont été significatifs pour aucun des paramètres. L’exception a concerné le phosphore qui lorsqu’il était en interaction avec l’azote a favorisé l’émission de racines dans le traitement H-N. On conclut de cette étude que la fertilisation en pépinière offre un outil de gestion pour les producteurs d’eucalyptus confrontés au problème de la qualité des plants.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Ciencias Agroforestales, Escuela Politécnica Superior, Universidad de Huelva, Campus Universitario de la Rábida, 21819, Palos de la Frontera, Huelva, Spain

    Manuel Fernández, Celia Marcos & Raúl Tapias

  2. S.A. Centro de Investigación y Tecnología, Grupo Empresarial ENCE, Carretera Madrid-Huelva, km 630, Apartado 223, 21080, Huelva, Spain

    Federico Ruiz & Gustavo López

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  1. Manuel Fernández
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  2. Celia Marcos
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  3. Raúl Tapias
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  4. Federico Ruiz
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  5. Gustavo López
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Correspondence to Manuel Fernández.

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Fernández, M., Marcos, C., Tapias, R. et al. Nursery fertilisation affects the frost-tolerance and plant quality of Eucalyptus globulus Labill. cuttings. Ann. For. Sci. 64, 865–873 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1051/forest:2007071

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Annals of Forest Science

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