From Propagation to Field: Influence of Tray Design on Tree Seedling Quality and Performance1

This study evaluated the effects of low, moderate and high substrate exposure air-pruning propagation trays on eastern cottonwood (Populus deltoides W. Bartram ex Marshall ssp. deltoides) and black cherry (Prunus serotina Ehrh.) seedling root system quality and overall performance. Root system quality was characterized primarily by proportion of coarse root defects within the container imprint. Seedlings were evaluated after a nearly four-month commercial greenhouse production phase and one year after transplanting into a nursery field. Above and below-ground growth were measured at both time points. Proportions of coarse root defects, indicating degree of root deflection in container production, were persistent between greenhouse and field production phases. The Open (high substrate exposure) tray produced seedlings with roughly three times less deflected coarse root weight compared to the Closed Wall (low substrate exposure) tray for both species in both production phases. At neither production phase were there significant differences in above-ground growth among trays. This corroborates findings from other research studies that have found that variable root system quality does not always result in above-ground growth differences; and that when it does, differences in growth may take several years to manifest. Index words:, tree seedling quality, root defects, transplant performance, above-ground growth. Species used in this study: eastern cottonwood (Populus deltoides W. Bartram ex Marshall ssp. deltoides), black cherry (Prunus serotina Ehrh.).