African Journal of Wood Science and Forestry

Full Length Research Paper

The impact of different soil types, including organic and inorganic soils, on the success of root emergence in spring rings

Hani A AL-Zalzaleh

Arid land Agriculture and Greenery Department, Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research, P.O. Box 24885, Safat 13109, Kuwait. E mail: [email protected].

Accepted 9 February, 2023

Abstract

A glasshouse experiment was conducted to determine the effect of soil types on the emergence of Eucalyptus viminalis in spring ring containers. Five inorganic soils such as 100% clay, 100% sand, 85% sand and 5% clay, 70% sand and 30% clay, and 55% sand and 45% clay and, three organic soils like medium nutrient and medium texture compost, medium nutrient and coarse texture compost, medium nutrient and fine texture compost were used for the study. Characters observed were the total numbers of roots (TR) and the number of roots emerging through the spring rings (ER) after destructive harvest. The ratio for the weight of emerged roots to the weight of total number of root (ER : TR) was calculated. Morphological observations reveal that air pruning in spring ring containers seemed to be encouraging the formation of new roots. The results showed that that there was no significant difference between the soil types on the total number of roots as well as the number of roots emerged through the holes of the spring rings. The weight ratio of emergent roots to the total number of roots also did not vary significantly. Despite the differences in the soil type similarity was observed in root performance in the E. viminalis seedlings. Overall, the soils used did influence neither the total number of roots nor the emergence of roots through the container openings.

Key words: organic soils, root growth, inorganic soils, root growth, spring rings, soil types.