Table 2.

Growth of containerized Jiffy Plug red maple (Acer rubrum L.) and green ash (Fraxinus pennsylvanica Marsh.) seedlings in composted MSW media and in a noncomposted substratez.

SpeciesMediayHeight growth (%)Biomass (g)R/SLeaf area (cm2)
LeafStemRootTotal
Red mapleCT  1.0 ab0.63 bc4.24 b4.83ns  9.70 bc1.09 ab  22.4 bc
MM360 (MM)  4.9 ab3.23 a5.63 a5.5014.36 a0.65 c113.6 ab
3CT:1MM  0.0 b  0.0 c4.28 ab5.17  9.41 c1.21 a    0.0 c
1CT:1MM  3.6 ab0.54 bc4.54 ab4.74  9.82 bc1.01 ab    6.0 c
1CT:3MM  7.4 a2.33 ab5.14 ab5.6713.13 ab0.85 bc136.8 a
Green ashCT  2.6 bc1.83 c4.22 c4.45 c10.50 c0.80ns  41.3 c
MM360 (MM)27.9 a6.06 a6.88 a10.54 a23.42 a0.82434.7 a
3CT:1MM  3.9 bc3.02 bc4.48 c4.96 c12.46 c0.73142.8 bc
1CT:1MM13.1 b4.45 ab5.87 b7.42 b17.48 b0.76288.1 ab
1CT:3MM  0.0 c2.57 bc4.73 c5.58 c12.86 c0.82  85.5 c
  • z Seedlings grown for 12 weeks (January to March) in 1 gal plastic containers in the greenhouse (80 to 120 W/m2 photosynthetically active radiation [natural daylight + supplemental illumination from 175-W metal halide lamps on a 2 hr photoperiod 0600 to 0800 hr]). Each value represents the mean of six replications. To standardize the variance, height growth percentages were converted to arcsin transformations before statistical analyses. Within each species, values in the same column differ significantly when followed by a different letter, LSD0.05; ns = not significant.

  • y Refer to text for description of media composition.