Summary
In conifer fertilization and nutrition experimentsPinus halepensis, P. radiata andP. maritima seedlings were grown in pots, filled with soil derived from mica schist and siliceous tertiary deposits and also in peat substrate in paperpots.
Fertilization with P ofP. radiata andP. maritima seedlings growing in soil low in available P and N improved seedling height only in combination with N fertilization and fertilization with alone induced P deficiency symptoms. N fertilization with from 100 to 150 ppm (2.4 to 3.2 g N/kg, respectively) in the soil regardless of the form of N (NH4 + or NO3 −) applied in the summer or autumn together with application of 20 ppm P before sowing was the fertilization regime which produced the best seedlings.
Fertilization of peat before sowingP. halepensis, P. radiata andP. maritima with omission of one of the nutrients N, P and K resulted in visible symptoms of N, P and K deficiency, respectively, in the seedlings. Comparative chemical analysis of needles from the three kinds of conifer seedlings with deficiency symptoms and healthy ones verified the visual symptoms of N and P deficiency but not so convincingly the K deficiency symptoms.
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Nakos, G. Pertilization and nutrition experiments with conifer seedlings in pots. Plant Soil 55, 269–281 (1980). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02181807
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02181807