Potential of new planting container in Quercus robur seedlings production – first report

Abstract

Container production of forest seedlings needs constant improvement, so in the aim to test the new container type this research was conducted. Quercus robur seedlings were produced in the container made of natron paper and compared with seedlings produced in commonly used container types in Serbia. Q. robur seeds were sown in the first week of November 2020 in a total of 30 containers (10 of each type). After the first growing season in the nursery, on November 2021, seedlings’ morphological parameters (root collar diameter - RCD, height - H, dry weight of shoot (SDW) and root (RDW), seedling dry weight (SLDW), shoot to root ratio (S:R), sturdiness coefficient (SQ), dry weight of lateral roots (LRDW), percent of lateral roots (%LR), Dickson’s quality index (QI), root-bound index (RBI) as RBI-diameter and RBI-volume, and rooting intensity (ROIN)) were compared using one-way ANOVA. Seedlings produced in the new container showed better morphological parameters such as H, SQ, SDW, RDW, SLDW, LRDW, QI and ROIN. Differences of seedlings from different containers were not detected for H, RCD, SQ, SDW, %LR, RBI-diameter, so we can conclude that seedlings produced in the new container type are similar with other container seedlings. Larger volume of these cells indicate use for Quercus species which have strong roots. Results obtained from the nursery promote use of the new container in forest seedlings production and testing at the field.