RNGR.net is sponsored by the USDA Forest Service and Southern Regional Extension Forestry and is a colloborative effort between these two agencies.

U.S. Department of Agriculture USDA Forest Service Southern Regional Extension Forestry Southern Regional Extension Forestry

Skip to content. | Skip to navigation

Home → Publications → Tree Planters' Notes → Tree Planters' Notes Volume 61, Number 2 (2018) → Seasonal Leaching Losses of Nutrients Under Containerized 2+0 White Spruce Seedlings Grown Outdoors in Forest Nurseries

Seasonal Leaching Losses of Nutrients Under Containerized 2+0 White Spruce Seedlings Grown Outdoors in Forest Nurseries

In forest nurseries of Québec, containerized 2+0 seedlings are produced outdoors where they can receive rainfall in addition to irrigation. These water inputs can lead to nutrient leaching losses. Two experiments with 2+0 white spruce (Picea glauca [Moench.] Voss) grown outdoors in containers were conducted to quantify seasonal leaching losses of nutrients (experiment 1 with no treatment [natural conditions] and experiment 2 with three irrigation and nitrogen [N] fertilization treatments). For both experiments, nitrogen was the most leached nutrient (roughly two-thirds nitrate and one-third ammonium) followed by phosphorus, potassium, calcium, and magnesium. In experiment 2, seedlings receiving the lowest irrigation, and N fertilization treatment had the greatest nitrogen use efficiency (89 percent) compared with the two other treatments (55 and 68 percent, respectively), while also having the lowest nutrient leaching losses without affecting morphology or nutrient concentrations. These results suggest that decreasing irrigation treatments can reduce water use and fertilizer leaching without compromising seedling quality.


Download this file:

PDF document Download this file — PDF document, 2587Kb

Details

Author(s): Jean Gagnon, Daniel Girard

Publication: Tree Planters' Notes - Volume 61, Number 2 (2018)

Volume: 61

Number: 2