Abstract
Field application of fertilisers is frequently ineffective in supplying limiting nutrients during establishment of plantation trees in highly weathered soils in the humid tropics. An alternative strategy for more effective delivery of nutrients to establishing trees was investigated in a field experiment on Kolombangara in the Solomon Islands. Under routine operational nursery conditions, cuttings of Gmelina arborea and seeds of Acacia mangium were planted into a coir (composted coconut husks) potting medium to which a range of rates of slow-release fertilisers had been applied. The growth performance of this nursery stock was then measured during the first 14 months following planting in the field. Incorporation of slow release fertilisers into the nursery medium significantly improved the growth of both species in the field, with more than 100% increases in volume index associated with the highest rates of slow release fertiliser application. This strong nutrient response during tree establishment was in sharp contrast to the absence of any effect from much higher rates of surface applied fertilisers that had been observed in previous field experiments on this same soil type. The placement of the slow release fertilisers within the immediate proximity of roots of the establishing trees, and the subsequent effects of this in increasing their abilities to compete with regrowth vegetation for site nutrient resources probably accounted for the high effectiveness of this fertiliser strategy in enhancing tree growth.
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Reddell, P., Webb, M.J., Poa, D. et al. Incorporation of slow-release fertilisers into nursery media. New Forests 18, 277–287 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1006693308681
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1006693308681