Effect of liner container size and root ball slicing prior to field nursery planting on trunk diameter and diameter of largest roots at harvest from field nursery.
Liner container size (L) | Root pruning liner container root balls prior to field nursery plantingz | Trunk diameter increase 2008 (mm) | Diameter 10 largest roots (mm)y |
---|---|---|---|
11 | Yes | 23 ax | 21 ax |
No | 23 a | 18 b | |
38 | Yes | 23 a | 15 c |
No | 21 ab | 13 cd | |
57 | Yes | 20 b | 11 d |
No | 21 ab | 11d |
↵z The 11 L liner container root ball sides sliced in six places top to bottom when planted into field February 2007; 38 and 57 L sliced similarly when 11 L shifted to 38 L or 57 L and when planted into field, October 2007 and January 2008, respectively. Field production concluded end of 2009 when roots were measured.
↵y Measured at the edge of the 0.9 m wide tree-spade-dug root ball.
↵x Means in a column with a different letter are statistically different at P < 0.05; n = 20 (trunk diameter) or 10 (diameter 10 largest roots), averaged across field root pruning season due to insignificant (P = 0.6) interaction.