Morphological and physiological attributes in Prosopis alba Griseb seedlings with different greenhouse substrates and containers

Abstract

The quality of the forest plant Prosopis alba (algarrobo blanco) is an important factor in the management of the species, from the nursery phase to the successful plantation. This work aimed to determine the morphological-physiological attributes of nursery plants under different growth conditions generated by the combination of different container sizes and different substrates in terms of their composition and porosity. A crossover factorial design trial was established, with 4 treatments resulting from the combination of different capacities of the container and substrates. The following were evaluated: height, diameter at root neck, aerial and radical biomass, concentration of foliar nutrients and plant quality indices. To characterize the substrates, their total, aerial and retention porosity were measured. The quality of the seedlings varied with the type of substrate and volume of the container used. Though the foliar concentration of K did not vary, that of N and P differed with the production technique. Quality attributes related to the root neck diameter showed their best performance when produced in larger volume containers while the attributes Ht, aerial and radical biomass along with plant quality indices showed greater development when using containers of greater volume and a substrate made out of a mixture of composted pine bark and perlite (1:1).