Demonstration Projects for PHC Products
Container
nursery LIECO, Kalwang, Austria
Summary
The largest Austrian tree nursery LIECO
produces around 5 million containerized conifer trees per year which are
transplanted at two years age onto the site of choice. Serious problems are
faced usually when these plants are put onto poor or acidic soils, and when
additionally high elevations allow only short vegetation times, drop out rates
usually reach up to 20% of transplanted seedlings. These trees have to be
replanted.
Our
aim was to inoculate trees directly at the site of planting as the nursery only
wanted to inoculate these trees which are expected to face problems and not all
trees in the nursery potting stage.
On site, problems usually are defined by poor root development in problematic soils, subsequently weak plant development, disease susceptibility and plant loss. Inoculation with MycorTree® Vertimulch provides a cocktail of mycorrhizal fungi, beneficial soil bacteria, organic soil conditioners and water absorbing gel. It was tested to fight aforementioned problems.
The product was applied manually (10g per 200ccm hole). A dispenser has now been developed and tested (which can be purchased at MycoPlant) which can be fixed onto any planting device and allows exact swift inoculation of 10 grams MycorTree® Vertimulch per button-push directly into the planting hole. 2000 container plants were divided into a control group and a test group, and were planted at a site with poor, loamy soil covered by an acidic layer of non-degraded organic litter. Elevation was 1200 m above sea level in the Austrian Alps with average 1200-mm precipitation per year, but only 25% of that falls during the vegetation season. Summers are dry and the south-orientated slope is exposed to intensive sunlight and local high temperatures.
The
results of this demo-trial clearly show:
·
MycorTree® Vertimulch can be applied directly into the planting hole in an effective, economic way (10-50g according to the size of the planting hole)
·
Stimulation of root development and stronger
plants during the first 6 months
·
Larger biomass production during the first 18
months due to better nutrient uptake ability (+25%)
·
Less drop-out rate (only 2% instead of usual
15-20%)
© 2000 PHC Royalty Corp.
1.
Standard conditions (control)
PARAMETER
|
VARIABLES
|
COMMENTS
|
Type of plant
|
⊠ Ectomyc. Plant:
.Picea abies ( Norway spruce)...
VAM: ...
|
container plant; ca. 150
ccm
|
Number of plants
transplanted per year by the customer
|
⊠
standard conditions: ca. 3 million per year
⊠ stress condition: ca. 2 million per year |
|
Destination :type of
soil
|
⊠ loamy; at surface high content of non-degraded litter ⊠ humus
content: .ca. 5%.......⊠ pH.3.5............. Metals.....No..................... |
Acidic topsoil,
compacted loamy soil underneath
|
Origin of plant
|
⊠ Container
(substrate) 80% peat, 20% perlite.. bare-root:
Plant age:..2 years at planting time.....
|
|
Type of irrigation:
|
mm/m2& frequency
....................................................................
⊠ natural precipitation average per year:
1200mm; summer dry (100mm/month)
|
South-orientated slope;
dry and hot in summer
|
Fertilizers:
|
⊠ Type/ Amount:
no fertilizer at time of planting........................................
Application: (liquid/granular)................................................................................ |
|
Pesticides
|
⊠
Types /combinations: insecticide
before transplanting.............
Frequency:.............................................................................................................. |
|
Main diseases
|
Fungal: ⊠ bark-destroying
insect....................................
Bacterial/Viral: ....................................................................................................... |
|
Determinants of product
quality:
|
⊠ Biomass: tree height, plot volume..... Crop yield.......... ⊠ Vitality......................
Flowers: .......................... ⊠ Survival
rate................ |
|
Average drop-out rate
(loss):
|
⊠ 15-20%
of plants (max./min. values): ....................................................
⊠ Main reasons: failure in
roots leaving pot-substrate and penetration into the native soil... |
Plantations in high
elevations with short vegetation times (4 months)
|
Desired trouble-shooters
|
disease
resistance
growth/flowering ⊠ survival maintenance time
|
|
© 2000 PHC Royalty Corp.