168 O'Connor et al.: Container Type Affects Root Development During Landscape Establishment RESULTS Nursery Study Effects on Roots Container type did not affect tree height, caliper, root:shoot ratio, leader growth, branch growth, canopy width, or shoot, leaf, and total plant dry weight in the three years (2011–2013) following planting in the landscape in 2010 (Table 2). In both 2011 and 2012, there were no con- tainer effects on total root ball weight, root weight inside and outside the original planting root ball, and total fine and coarse root weight (Table 3). However, in 2012, trees grown in RP and SP containers had a higher percentage of total root dry weight (30.0% and 27.3%, respec- tively) beyond the original root ball than trees grown in BP containers (21.4%) (Table 4). Trees from BP containers also had a greater percent- age of their total coarse root dry weight growing within the root ball (77.0%), compared to trees produced in RP (68.7%) and SP (71.5%) con- tainers. In addition, a lower percentage of total coarse roots growing outside the root ball were found for BP containers (19.8%) compared to RP (27.9%) and SP (25.4%) containers. While there were no container effects on root dry weight after the initial growing season (2011), by the second season after planting, trees that had been grown in BP containers produced a greater per- centage of their total root dry weight within the boundaries of the original root ball than did trees produced in both fabric containers. By the second season, total root ball dry weight of BP-grown trees was 24%–34% greater than that of RP- and SP-grown trees, respectively (Table 2). Trees grown in BP containers had 1.5 times more total and coarse root weight inside the origi- nal root ball than was measured for trees grown in the SP and RP fabric containers. Fully 72% of total root growth had occurred within the origi- nal planting root ball boundary for trees pro- duced in BP containers, while trees produced in the fabric containers had 65 and 62.7% (RP and SP, respectively) of their roots growing within the original root ball (Table 3). More coarse roots were produced outside of the original root ball with the RP (33%) and SP (32.9%) containers, while BP-produced trees formed only 26.4% of their coarse roots outside of the original root ball. ©2018 International Society of Arboriculture DISCUSSION Two growing seasons following transplant of Chanticleer pear trees from three container types, there were no container effects on above- or below- ground plant growth (Table 2). However, con- tainer effects were found on post-transplant root- ing in the third year, while seeing no container effects on aboveground growth. In the third year aſter planting, dry weight of excavated root sys- tems of trees grown in BP containers was 24% greater than that of RP-grown trees and 32% greater than trees grown in SP containers (Table 2). While total root production might be con- sidered a measure of establishment, the location (relative to the original root ball) of new root dry weight production following planting may be a more important indicator of transplant success. The container in which the trees were originally grown appears to have influenced root production following planting into the landscape. The relative distribution of both fine (<2.0 mm diameter) and coarse (≥2.1 mm diameter) roots in the second and third years aſter planting (Table 3) differed among trees produced in SP and RP containers, com- pared to trees produced in BP containers. Aſter the third year in the landscape, trees grown in the fabric containers had 25% (for RP) to 32% (for SP) greater dry root growth outside of the original root ball compared to trees grown in BP containers. In contrast, by the end of the third year, 72% of total dry root growth of trees grown in BP containers was concentrated within the boundaries of the original root ball, while more than one-third of root growth (dry weight) for trees grown in fabric containers was found outside of the original root ball (35% and 37% for RP and SP, respectively). The concentrated root growth within the origi- nal root ball with trees grown in BP containers may reflect the condition of the root ball at the time of planting. Evaluations of root ball quality at plant- ing (Table 1) showed greater incidence of circling roots and more root matting with BP trees than for the trees grown in the two fabric containers. Visible circling roots with BP-grown trees were obvious three years aſter transplanting, while trees grown in fabric containers had fewer notice- able circling roots and also produced root systems with greater lateral branching (Table 3; Table 4). Compared to trees produced in fabric containers,
July 2018
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