scholarly journals Planting Depth Affects Root Form of Three Shade Tree Cultivars in Containers

2010 ◽  
Vol 36 (3) ◽  
pp. 132-139
Author(s):  
Edward Gilman ◽  
Chris Harchick ◽  
Maria Paz

Study was designed to evaluate impact of planting depth on root morphology inside nursery containers. Trees were planted shallow (13 mm) or deep (64 mm) into #3 Air-Pot™ containers, then shallow (0 mm) or deep (64 mm) into #15 containers prior to shifting them to their final #45 container size at the same depth. Trunk diameter (caliper) was significantly larger for both magnolia and maple planted shallow (13 mm) into #3, and then shallow into #15 containers when compared to planting deeper. However, differences were small and may not be relevant to a grower. No caliper or height differences among planting depths were found for elm. Presence of stem girdling roots in elm and magnolia growing in #45 containers increased with planting depth into # 3 containers. Downward re-orientation of main roots comprising the flare by #3 container wall, likely contributed to amount of roots growing over root flare. Maple root systems were not impacted by planting depth into #3 primarily due to adventitious root emergence from the buried portion of stem. Distance between substrate surface and top of root flare in finished #45 containers was not impacted by planting depth into #3 containers for any species. Planting elm and maple deeply into #15 led to more trunk-girdling by roots, a deeper root flare, and more roots growing over flare compared to planting shallow. Most root defects in all species were hidden from view because they were found below substrate surface. Presence of a visible root flare was not related to occurrence of root defects. Root balls on elm and maple were packed with roots which made it time consuming to remove substrate and roots above the root flare. Planting depth appears most crucial when shifting into #15 containers.

HortScience ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 45 (12) ◽  
pp. 1793-1797 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Roger Harris ◽  
Susan D. Day

Root flares of landscape trees are increasingly found to be much deeper than their forest counterparts, indicating that their root systems have been situated deeper in the soil. Planting deeply in production containers contributes to this phenomenon, yet the consequences of deep planting in production containers or the consequences of any adjustments made to planting depth at the time of transplant on growth in the landscape have not been reported for many species. Container-grown (11.4 L) liners of Tilia cordata Mill. (littleleaf linden) and Quercus palustris Münchh. (pin oak) were planted in 50-L containers with the first main lateral roots (structural roots) at substrate-surface grade or 10 cm or 20 cm below grade (deep planting). Trees were grown in the 50-L containers for two growing seasons and in a simulated landscape for three additional seasons after transplanting with the top of the container substrate at soil level or with some roots and substrate removed such that the original structural roots were just below the soil surface (remediated). Deep planting pin oak, but not littleleaf linden, slowed growth during container production; however, the effect did not persist after transplanting. Remediation of the 20-cm-deep pin oaks slowed growth during all three post-transplant years. Littleleaf linden remediation slowed growth for the first season after transplanting to a simulated landscape for 10-cm-deep trees and for the first two seasons for 20-cm-deep trees. Evaluation of pin oak root systems 3 years after transplanting revealed vigorous growth of non-deflected adventitious roots that had formed on the trunks of deep trees, and these roots appeared to be developing into main structural roots. No adventitious roots were present on littleleaf linden; instead, deflected roots grew and produced deformed root systems. Deep planting of linden reduced suckering; however, we conclude that remediation of deep-planted littleleaf linden is warranted as a result of potential hazards from trunk-girdling roots. In some species such as pin oak, non-deflected, strong adventitious root systems may assume the role of structural roots and diminish the effect of deflected and circling roots systems formed during container production. Remediation of these trees is likely not as critical as for species without abundant adventitious roots.


2012 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 173-181
Author(s):  
Edward F. Gilman ◽  
Michael Orfanedes

Increasingly, producers and consumers are realizing that roots play a major role in nursery tree quality. To remain competitive, producers need to find economically viable methods of increasing quality standards. Two studies were designed to test methods of improving root systems in a container root ball. In the first, three different root pruning methods and two planting depths were imposed as 3.7 liter (1 gal) container-grown Royal poinciana [Delonix regia (Bojer) Raf.] and trumpet-tree [Tabebuia heterophylla (DC.) Britton] were shifted to 25 liter (6.6 gal) containers. Root pruning and planting depth had no impact on trunk caliper or tree height. Vertical root ball slicing or shaving off the periphery of the root ball increased the number of straight roots inside root balls and reduced the presence of deflected roots, but shaving had a greater effect and was associated with consistently high-quality root systems. Trees planted with the top-most root 10 cm (4 in) below the 25 liter (6.6 gal) container substrate surface had more deflected roots and fewer straight roots than trees planted with roots close to the surface. In the second study, teasing or shaving live oak (Quercus virginiana Mill. ‘SNDL’) in 3.7 liter (1 gal) container root balls resulted in identical root systems in 57 liter (15 gal) containers one year later, and both treatments resulted in higher quality root systems than trees not root pruned.


1975 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 171-175 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hugh E. Wilcox ◽  
Ruth Ganmore-Neumann

Seedlings of Pinusresinosa were grown at root temperatures of 16, 21 and 27 °C, both aseptically and after inoculation with the ectendomycorrhizal fungus BDG-58. Growth after 3 months was significantly influenced by the presence of the fungus at all 3 temperatures. The influence of the fungus on root growth was obscured by the effects of root temperature on morphology. The root system at 16 and at 21 °C possessed many first-order laterals with numerous, well developed second-order branches, but those at 27 °C had only a few, relatively long, unbranched first-order laterals. Although the root systems of infected seedlings were larger, the fungus increased root growth in the same pattern as determined by the temperature.


2015 ◽  
Vol 41 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Edward Gilman ◽  
Maria Paz ◽  
Chris Harchick

Plants were grown in a 2 × 2 factorial combination of planting depth in nursery containers and at a landscape installation to study effects on root architecture, growth, and mechanical stability of Magnolia grandiflora L. Planting depth into containers or landscape soil had no impact on bending stress to tilt trunks 40 months after landscape planting, and impacted neither trunk diameter nor tree height growth 68 months later. Trees planted 128 mm deep into 170 L containers had more circling roots at landscape planting and 68 months later than trees planted shallow in containers. Root pruning at landscape planting reduced the container imprint rating on the root system to one-third of that absent root pruning with only a 4 mm reduction in trunk diameter growth over 68 months. Improvement in root architecture from root pruning likely outweighs the rarely encountered downside of slightly less anchorage in an extreme weather event simulated by winching trunks. Trees planted 5 cm above grade were slightly—but significantly—less stable in landscape than trees planted deeper (10 cm below grade). Root pruning at planting to remove roots on root ball periphery appeared to improve root architecture while only slightly impacting growth and anchorage.


Author(s):  
Debbie Care ◽  
Shirley Nichols ◽  
Derek Woodfield

The use of low-ionic-strength hydroponic culture and image analysis techniques to discriminate and isolate morphologically distinct, genetically differentiated root types within white clover is described. Advantages of this method include the ability to view the genetic expression of the root systems without the modifying effects of growth in soil, to examine the growth and structure of roots over time, and to store the images for further examination. It is recognised that although the root systems grow in three dimensions, they are constrained to two dimensions by the flatbed scanner. However, the morphological parameters determined by image analysis would not be altered whether this analysis was measured in two or three dimensions. Keywords: image analysis, root morphology, solution culture, Trifolium repens


2016 ◽  
Vol 42 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Edward Gilman ◽  
Maria Paz ◽  
Chris Harchick

Size of liner, root ball slicing when field planting, and field root pruning season were tested with intention of optimizing posttransplant performance of field-grown nursery stock. Trees planted into a field nursery from three container sizes and either root ball sliced or not when shifted to larger containers or planting to the field nursery, and root pruned in the field nursery in either the dormant season or growing season all had the same trunk diameter (144 mm) and tree height (6.4 m) three years after transplanting into the landscape. Container size influenced root attributes—including number and orientation—and anchorage rating of field-harvested trees. Trees planted from 11 L containers required more bending stress to winch trunks evaluated 12 and 25 months after transplanting than larger containers. Percentage of root systems graded as culls was reduced from 88 to 66 by root pruning when field planting, but root pruning resulted in a slight reduction in anchorage rating. Diameter of the ten largest roots at edge of field-harvested root ball decreased with size of container planted into field soil. Root pruning season had no impact on final tree height (4.3 m) at the conclusion of field production.


Author(s):  
Михаил Витальевич Марков ◽  
Виолетта Закировн Юсуфова ◽  
Татьяна Андреевна Шестова ◽  
Дмитрий Олегович Грушенков

Исторически сложившийся в ботанике стереотип представлений об аллоризном строении корней и корневых систем малолетних (одно-двулетних) растений из класса Двудольных может стать серьезной помехой для объективной оценки разнообразия этой интереснейшей группы жизненных форм цветковых растений. При более внимательном изучении морфологии и анатомии корней в динамике их онтогенетического развития выявляется существенная неполнота наших знаний в этой области и отсутствие необходимого уровня развития терминологии, которые сказываются на содержательности изданных учебных пособий. Рассмотренные в этих пособиях хрестоматийные примеры дают далеко не полную картину природного разнообразия морфологической и анатомической структуры корней и в них, часто бывают недооценены или просто опущены важные детали в процессе их развития. К числу таких деталей относится коллет - структура в переходной зоне между главным корнем и гипокотилем, которой свойственна своя анатомия и морфология (развитие волосков или ризоидов), включая примордии боковых корней, закладывающихся внутри коллета иногда еще в ходе эмбриогенеза. Historically borned stereotype on allorhizy of pauciennial (annual-biennial) plants from Dicots can be valuable interference for objective representations (describing) of this extremely interesting flowering plant group diversity. Via more attentive and deep research of the morphology and anatomy of roots in their ontogenetic development dynamics we can observe (reveal) ncompleteness of our knowledge in this area and unsufficient level of terminology which could have negative influence on our published text-books content. Hackneyed examples that were presented in these text-books can illustrate far from the full picture of natural diversity of root morphology and anatomy with some valuable details of their development obviously underestimated or simply omitted. There is a collet amongst these details - more or less inflated transition zone between radicle and hypocotyl with its own anatomy and morphology features (cover from trichomes or rhyzoides), including lateral roots primordia which can be initiated inside even during embryogenesis.


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