Growth and production cycle of Eucalyptus seedlings in containers

Abstract

Aiming to study the growth of seedlings of three eucalypt species produced in two sizes of containers and to verify their performance after two months of planting, two experiments were established at a forest nursery, both in a completely randomized design, factorial 3 x 2 (three species and two containers sizes), with 4 replicates. The first experiment was to evaluate the production of seedlings in the nursery and the second consisted of the field simulation. The characteristics evaluated were: height, diameter, leaf area, leaf number, shoot dry weight, root dry weight and percentage of deformed roots. The seedlings of all species produced in containers of 180 cm³ showed higher growth for all variables. In containers of larger volume (180 cm³) the seedlings are ready to be planted after 60 days, while those from containers at smaller volume (55 cm³) reach the minimum standard required for planting in the field only after 120 days. In simulation experiment in the field it was observed that seedlings grown in containers of 55 cm³ showed less growth in height and diameter, lower dry mass of shoots and roots and more deformed roots, independent of the species.