Retention Time in Three Nursery Container Volumes Impacts Root Architecture

Edward F. Gilman; Maria Paz; Chris Harchick

doi:10.48044/jauf.2015.015

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Figure 1.
Mean diameter of five largest roots (measured 1 cm inside 170 L root ball periphery) with increasing retention time in 11 L container. ^zMeans within each species with a different letter are statistically different at P < 0.05; n = 5.

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Table 1.
Retention time in 11, 57, and 170 L containers.
Retention time treatment Container size^{^z} (L)
11 57 170
Retention time in container (months)
A 4 8 20
B 7 10 15
C 9 11 12
D 12 14 6
↵^z Container dimensions as follows: 11 L = 27 cm top diameter, 25 cm tall; 57 L = 44 cm top diameter, 38 cm tall; 170 L = 75 cm top diameter, 48 cm tall, round, solid-walled, black plastic containers (Nursery Supplies, Inc., Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, U.S.).

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Table 2.

Effect of retention time in three container sizes on final trunk diameter and height (data collected October 2009) of elm, maple, and magnolia in 170 L containers.

Retention time (months) in containers:
11 L	57 L	170 L	Trunk diameter (cm)	Height (m)
Elm
4	8	20	6.7 a^z	3.9 b
7	10	15	6.7 a	4.3 a
9	12	11	6.4 a	4.5 a
12	14	6	6.0 b	4.2 ab
Maple
4	8	20	6.5 b	4.5 ab
7	10	15	7.1 a	4.7 a
9	12	11	7.0 a	4.4 b
12	14	6	6.9 a	4.7 a
Magnolia
4	8	20	6.1 a	3.3 a
7	10	15	6.2 a	3.1 b
9	12	11	5.6 b	3.2 b
12	14	6	5.1 b	3.1 b

↵^z Means in a column within species with a different letter are statistically different at P < 0.05; n = 5.

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Table 3.

Effect of retention time in three container sizes on elm, maple, and magnolia root number in 170 L containers.

					No. of roots >5 mm diameter
Retention time (months) in containers:			% trunk circled with roots^{^z}	% cull^{^y} trees	At position of 11 L container^{^x}	At position of 57 L container^{^x}	At position of 170 L container^{^x}	Straight roots at 57 L container edge^{^w}	Straight roots at 170 L container edge^{^w}
11 L	57 L	170 L	% trunk circled with roots^{^z}	% cull^{^y} trees	At position of 11 L container^{^x}	At position of 57 L container^{^x}	At position of 170 L container^{^x}	Straight roots at 57 L container edge^{^w}	Straight roots at 170 L container edge^{^w}
Elm
4	8	20	8.8 c^{^v}	0	14.4	17.8 a	0.6 ab	6.6 a	0.6
7	10	15	16.8 ab	20	16.8	15.4 a	1.2 a	6.2 a	0.8
9	12	11	14.6 b	0	15.8	7.8 b	0.2 b	4.0 ab	0.8
12	14	6	21.6 a	0	15.8	6.6 b	0 b	3.2 b	0
Maple
4	8	20	8.7 b	20	12.6 b	16.6 b	1.8 ab	5.4	1.4
7	10	15	0 c	0	20.8 a	27.0 a	6.6 a	7.0	2.0
9	12	11	12.1 ab	20	17.8 a	24.0 a	0.4 b	4.6	0.6
12	14	6	16.7 a	20	20.6 a	18.2 b	0 b	6.6	0.6
Magnolia
4	8	20	0	0	11.0 bc	26.6	13.6 a	9.4	3.2 ab
7	10	15	4.4	0	9.8 c	20.6	11.0 a	10.4	4.4 a
9	12	11	0	0	14.2 ab	24.6	6.6 b	8.2	1.8 bc
12	14	6	0	0	16.2 a	20.8	3.6 c	7.6	0.8 c

↵^z Percent of circumference with root bark touching trunk bark.
↵^y Percent of trees rated as cull based on root circling according to Florida Grades and Standards for Nursery Plants (Anonymous 2015).
↵^x Number of roots >5 mm diameter one cm inside 11 L container position, between the 11 and 57 L position, and between the 57 and 170 L container position, respectively.
↵^w Number of roots >5 mm diameter that grew to the position of the 57 or 170 L container without turning more than 45 degrees left or right.
↵^v Means in a column within species with a different letter are statistically different at P < 0.05; n = 5.

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Table 4.

Effect of retention time in three container sizes on root size of elm, maple, and magnolia in 170 L containers.

Retention time (months) in containers:			Mean diameter^{^z} (mm) roots >5 mm			Total CSA^{^z} (mm²) roots >5 mm
11 L	57 L	170 L	At position of 11 L container	At position of 57 L container	At position of 170 L container	At position of 11 L container	At position of 57 L container	At position of 170 L container
Elm
4	8	20	13.9	8.6	1.2 b^{^y}	2647	1195 a	17 ab
7	10	15	13.3	9.0	4.9 a	3160	1089 a	41 a
9	12	11	13.8	8.1	1.0 b	3388	440 b	4 b
12	14	6	12.7	7.8	0 b	2557	349 b	0 b
Maple
4	8	20	11.7 b	9.6	4.6 ab	1891 b	1427 b	79 ab
7	10	15	12.0 b	11.1	6.6 a	3027 ab	3179 a	291 a
9	12	11	15.9 a	9.0	1.5 bc	5018 a	2019 ab	19 b
12	14	6	14.2 ab	9.3	0 c	4219 a	1513 b	0 b
Magnolia
4	8	20	15.2	11.7 a	7.9	3033	3673 a	844 a
7	10	15	15.5	11.6 a	7.8	2831	2975 ab	513 ab
9	12	11	15.0	11.1 a	7.5	3057	2971 ab	307 b
12	14	6	12.6	7.6 b	6.6	2708	1068 b	120 b

↵^z Diameter and cross-sectional area (CSA) of roots >5 mm diameter one cm inside 11 L container position, between the 11 and 57 L position, and between the 57 and 170 L container position, respectively.
↵^y Means in a column within species with a different letter are statistically different at P < 0.05; n = 5.

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Table 5.

Effect of retention time in three container sizes on elm, maple, and magnolia root architecture in 170 L containers.

Retention time (months) in containers			Percent five largest roots circling at position of 11 or 57 L container^{^z}	Percent five largest roots descending at position of 11 or 57 L container^{^y}	Percent five largest roots straight at position of 11 or 57 L container^{^x}
11 L	57 L	170 L
Elm
4	8	20	12 a^{^w}B^{^v}	84 A	4 cB
7	10	15	12 aB	76 A	12 aB
9	12	11	8 bB	84 A	8 bB
12	14	6	4 cB	88 A	8 bB
Maple
4	8	20	20	44 c	36 a
7	10	15	20	40 c	40 a
9	12	11	16 B	84 aA	0 cB
12	14	6	20	60 b	20 b
Magnolia
4	8	20	8 bB	80 aA	12 aB
7	10	15	20 aB	68 bA	12 aB
9	12	11	24 aB	68 bA	8 bB
12	14	6	8 bB	84 aA	8 bB

↵^z Percent of the five largest roots measured on cut root ball disc 12 cm below root ball top surface that circled at <45 degree angle relative to horizontal at either the 11 or 57 L container position.
↵^y Percent of the five largest roots measured on cut root ball disc 12 cm below root ball top surface that descended relative to horizontal at >45 degree angle at either the 11 or 57 L container position.
↵^x Percent of the five largest roots on cut root ball disc 12 cm below root ball top surface that grew without branching or deflecting at the 11 or 57 L container position, or if they branched the largest segment grew to the edge of the 170 L container without deflecting >45 degrees left or right.
↵^w Means in a column within species with a different lower case letter are statistically different at P < 0.05; n = 5.
↵^v Means in a row within species with a different upper case letter are statistically different at P < 0.05; n = 5 using one way ANOVA for each retention time independently.

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Table 6.

Effect of retention time in three container sizes on deflected position of the five largest roots of elm, maple, and magnolia in 170 L containers.

Retention time (months) in containers			% roots deflected down or around by 11 L container^{^z}	% roots deflected down or around by 57 L container^{^z}	% roots deflected down or around by 170 L container^{^z}
11 L	57 L	170 L	% roots deflected down or around by 11 L container^{^z}	% roots deflected down or around by 57 L container^{^z}	% roots deflected down or around by 170 L container^{^z}
Elm
4	8	20	56 b^{^y}A^{^x}	44 aA	0 B
7	10	15	64 bA	32 bB	4 B
9	12	11	76 aA	24 cB	0 B
12	14	6	84 aA	16 dB	0 B
Maple
4	8	20	80 aA	20 bB	0 C
7	10	15	68 bA	32 aB	0 B
9	12	11	76 abA	24 bB	0 B
12	14	6	80 aA	20 bB	0 B
Magnolia
4	8	20	72 bA	28 aB	0 C
7	10	15	80 abA	20 bB	0 B
9	12	11	76 bA	24 abB	0 C
12	14	6	88 aA	12 cB	0 B

↵^z Percent of the five largest roots measured one cm inside indicated container size that deflected down or around at the 11, 57, or 170 L container size.
↵^y Means in a column within species with a different lower case letter are statistically different at P < 0.05; n = 5.
↵^x Means in a row within species with a different upper case letter are statistically different at P < 0.05; n = 5 using one way ANOVA for each retention time independently.