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The growth and productivity of `Redhaven'/Lovell peach during the first 3 years in a replant site was evaluated after planting in one of five preplant treatments. Treatments (trt) were 1) nontreated control (CK), 2) killed fescue (F), 3) soybean rotation (L), 4) summer solarization (SOL), and 5) methyl bromide fumigation (FUM). An orchard was removed from the experimental site in Spring 1991 before establishments of treatments. In June 1991, a tall fescue (K-31), soybeans, or mustard, and cabbage were sown in trt plots 2, 3, and 4, respectively. In July, trt 4 was covered with clear, 4-mil plastic sheeting for 90 days. In October, trt 5 was fumigated with methyl bromide under a 4-mil plastic sheet. Trees were planted in Spring 1992. Soil characteristics, weed populations, and tree growth and productivity were measured in the first three seasons after planting. FUM significantly reduced weed density into the third season. SOL plots had the highest weed density in years 2 and 3. TCSA, yield, and yield efficiency of FUM trees were significantly larger than CK. Trees in F or SOL had significantly lower yields.
Verticle gradients of moisture, salinity, specific fertilizer ions, and pH in the root zone in the closed, insulated pallet system (CIPS) are relatively stable compared with those in the open container system (OCS). Establishment of the VA mycorrhizal fungus Glomus intraradices and maintenance of the biocontrol fungus Trichoderma harzianum and the entomopathogenic nematode Steinernema carpocapsae were greater in CIPS than in control OCS. In CIPS, percent corn root length colonized by G. intraradices was greatest in roots in the top stratum of the root medium. Colonization was significantly greater in copper-coated root-containment pouches. Population maintenance in CIPS of T. harzianum, initially uniformly inoculated throughout the root medium, was highest in the top stratum of the root medium where K+ and