Effects of controlled-release fertilizers on the shoot and root development of Douglas-fir seedlings

Abstract

Controlled-release fertilizers, applied to the root zone of 1-0 plug Douglas-fir (Pseudotsugamenziesii Mirb. Franco) seedlings at planting, stimulated shoot and root growth in the following two growing seasons. Stem unit length was increased in the first growth flush after treatment, and a higher proportion of fertilized seedlings had a second growth flush that year. Fertilizing increased the number of needle primordia formed in the overwintered bud in the late summer and fall of the 1st year after treatment and increased the number of lateral buds formed the following spring, but did not affect the length of stem units elongated in the first growth flush of the 2nd year after treatment. Shoot–root ratio was not altered abnormally by fertilizing. Fertilizing increased the number and in some cases the diameter of lateral roots in the root system. Position of fertilizer placement did not alter root system symmetry in terms of the distribution of numbers of roots over 12 root zones.