Soil Treatments May Increase Stand of Locust Seedlings

The nurseryman frequently experiences considerable difficulty in getting a satisfactory stand of tree seedlings in the nursery bed, or at least in getting as many plants as he should from the number of seeds that are planted. here may be many factors contributing to a poor stand of plants, such as heavy rains and flooding at the wrong time, bird and rodent damage, etc., but much of the loss in stand is due to the activity of damping-off and rootrotting fungi, which are almost universally present in the soil. Other contributing factors may be certain insect larvae and nematodes. The latter are not too common in Ohio soils but one or two species of both the root-knot (Meloidogyne) and root-lesion (Pratylenchus) nematodes can be found in nursery beds. Weeds are also a serious production hazard at most nursery sites, where their control is costly and the act of weeding the beds and the growth competition they give often results in further reductions in the stand of tree seedlings. Thus, if a single chemical compound, or a combination of two or more could be found that would control fungi, insects, nematodes and weeds in a single pre-planting application, it would be a long step forward in the production of tree seedlings in the forest nurseries of the state of Ohio, and in the United States.

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Author(s): J. D. Wilson, Carl V. Bailey

Publication: Tree Planters' Notes - Issue 31 (1958)