Scientific Papers Series B Horticulture

in leaf area and leaf number. The difference inshoot fresh and dry weight was found to benegligible in both conventional pots and springrings. No marked significant variation in totaltop biomass showed that shoot growth was notaffected by the differences in containers.Schuch and Pittenger (1996) grew Eucalyptuscitriodora in two different containers and foundno differences in shoot dry weight. Root length,root fresh and dry weights were significantlyhigher in root trainers than the other treatments.Root length is influenced by container depthand hence perhaps it is not surprising that roottrainers gave the highest value. The type ofnursery container used during production canhave a dramatic impact on root morphology ofcontainer grown plants (Arnold, 1996).Effect of different soil mixes and containertype over two periods of destructive harvestTable 2. Interaction level of soil mixes and containers attwo harvest level.Interaction Plant Leaf Aerial Root Totalparameters height area weight weight weightContainers * * * * *Soil * * * *Containers XSoil * Harvest * * * * *Containers XHarvest * * * Soil X Harvest * * * *Containers XSoilX Harvest * Level of significance-0.05.The above showed that the plant height wasaffected positively by the time period(expected) but also by container type. Plantsgrown in a conventional container were thetallest in comparison to plants grown into othertypes of container. The container formationmay retain soil moisture more successfully, orproduced a root patterning that allowed moreeffective nutrient up take those results in anincreased plant height. However it is importantnot just to focus on height as an indicator ofgrowth success as plants grown in spring ringshad a higher leaf area. It is known that growingmedia can be the determining factor for plantdevelopment and vigor. Different inorganic soilratios can give negative or positive effects onplant growth, based on both physical and258chemical factors that can affect the shoot androot ratio (Aung, 1974) . Different soil mediacan affect growth and possibly survival ofcontainer grown seedlings. However in thistrail the effect of soil type was not significantfor plant height but Eucalyptus grown in soilwith 100% clay did have a greater leaf area.The results again suggest that different plantparts respond differently to different types ofenvironment.The total aerial dry weight was affectedstrongly by interactions between container, soiland harvest time but the relationship wascomplex and clear trends are hard to discern.There was an interaction between containertype and harvest time and soil type and harvesttime. This could reflect the relative rates atwhich roots colonize the different soil volumesand the time at which some growth equilibriumis reached. Root vigor can be determined byweight increment over a standard time (Rogersand Vyvyan, 1934). A desirable trend was thatsand performed well at the first harvest butpoorly by the second. This could be due tonutrient exhaustion or inability to effectivelymeet the moisture needs of the larger plantbiomass. In this study the container type hadgreat impact on root dry weight but there isinevitably an interaction with time (Gilman andKane, 1990).There was also a strong relationbetween soil and harvest period for root dryweight. Data from an underground rootlaboratory has shown that the extent of contactbetween root and soil is dynamic and can varywith time (Atkinson and Wilson, 1979). Thelonger the roots are growing in the same mediaand in the same container the greater theincrease the root biomass that is likely to beproduced, but fluctuations in root mass can alsooccur. However if a plant is left for a long timein the same container it will become root boundand the roots themselves will become thebarrier to aeration and water movement. Thismight be not true with the new spring rings. Inthis study air pruning affects root biomass andled to less overall plant biomass, but longerterm trails may give different results.Effect of container type on posttransplantingThe data from (Table 3) showed that plantheight increment and number of branches didnot differ significantly between the treatments.