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Pine bark is a widely used substrate component in the southeastern and mid-Atlantic regions of the U.S. nursery industry for the production of container-grown, woody ornamental crops. As a result of the high porosity and relatively low water
Abstract
The external surfaces and internal structures of particles of milled pine bark (Pinus taeda L. and P. elliottii Engelm.) were examined with scanning electron microscopy. Numerous external openings, cracked cell walls and internal cellular connections, that might allow water penetration were observed. Periderm surfaces were without pores, and contained rough surfaces and apparently waxy substances that might resist water penetration or absorption.
Abstract
Coal cinders with pine bark were evaluated as containerized plant growing medium. Rhododendron obtusum Lindl. ‘Hinodegiri’ liners were grown in several combinations of media composed of pine bark mixed with an aged and a recently combusted source of cinders. Measurements of media pH, soluble salts, NO3 − –N, NH4 + –N, and 19 extractable nutrient and metallic ions were obtained. Leaf tissue samples were analyzed for 19 elements. Top dry weight, visual growth and chlorosis ratings, and root visual ratings constituted the plant growth parameters measured. Satisfactory growth was generated in pine bark amended with up to 50% cinders from either source.
Abstract
Pine bark was shown to adsorb 1.5 mg of N/g of bark when NH4 solutions were leached through the bark. Increasing pH of bark increased adsorbed NH4. At pH 3.3, only NH4 was adsorbed to bark particles when a fertilizer solution containing NH4, Ca, K, and Mg was applied. However, adsorption of NH4 and other cations increased as pH was increased from 3.8 to 5.8. These data indicate that 2 types of sites exist for the adsorption of NH4 to pine bark. One site is effective at lower pH; the other is active as pH increases. Daily application of 2.5 cm of water containing 50 ppm NH4 required 20 days for equilibration to occur so as to satisfy all binding sites. Thus, incorporation of NH4 into a pine-bark medium prior to planting may be advisable to prevent low N levels from occurring in the container solution due to NH4 binding when plants are first planted and fertilized.
Abstract
A standard 1:1 v/v pine bark and sand potting medium was characterized physically by particle size distribution, bulk density (BD), total pore space, porosity at 50 cm H2O tension and porosity at >50 cm H2O tension. A potting medium identical to the standard was constructed from component milled pine bark and sand particles. Phaseolus lunatus L. ‘Jackson Wonder’ plants grown in the 2 physically similar media, under a standard cultural program, were essentially identical. Construction of a potting medium from a prescribed screen analysis provides a means to quantify variation which exists within a medium assumed to be uniform.
Abstract
Greenhouse-grown branched liners of ‘Helleri’ holly were fertilized with either 0, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, or 30 ppm P to establish a P level in the pine bark medium that resulted in maximum shoot dry weight. Pine bark P levels greater than 10 ppm did not result in increased shoot dry weight. Total mg of P in shoot tissues continued to increase with P treatments higher than 10 ppm, indicating luxury consumption of P. Total mg of P in root tissues increased to the 5 ppm P treatment. Total μg of Mn in shoot tissues increased while total pg of Mn in root tissues decreased with increasing pine bark P levels. In a subsequent experiment, dry shoot weights of ‘Helleri’ holly grown in a pine bark medium amended with either 270, 540, or 810 g/m3 of P supplied as superphosphate (9% P) or fertilized with 10 ppm P were not different, while root dry weights decreased with increasing P amendment. Water extractable P for the 810 g/m3 treatment decreased 245 ppm during the experiment and by week 5 was below 10 ppm.
Container-grown Viburnum plicatum Thunb. var. tomentosum (Thunb.) Miq. `Mariesii' were planted in unamended planting holes, tilled plots, and tilled plots amended with aged pine bark. A 36-day drought was initiated 108 days after planting. Amending induced N deficiencies, reduced shoot growth, and increased root growth. Plants harvested from tilled and planting-hole plots at drought initiation had 63% and 68% more dry weight, respectively, than plants from amended plots. Between 8 and 19 days after drought (DAD) initiation, plants from tilled plots maintained higher relative leaf water content (RLWC) than plants from planting holes. Plants in amended plots maintained higher RLWC than both other treatments between 7 and 33 DAD. Amended and tilled treatments had higher relative leaf expansion rates (RLERs) than the planting-hole treatment 8, 11, 13, and 15 DAD. As the drought lengthened, plants in amended plots maintained higher RLERs than plants in tilled plots. While plants in pine bark-amended plots were more drought tolerant than those in tilled plots, it is unclear if increased drought tolerance was caused by the improved rooting environment or N deficiency.
Abstract
Rooted cuttings of Ilex crenata Thunb. ‘Helleri’, Rhododendron obtusum Planch. ‘Rosebud’, and Juniperus chinensis L. ‘San Jose’ were grown in a 100% pine-bark medium amended with dolomitic limestone at 0 to 8 kg m-3 with resulting pH from 3.4 to 7.2. Except for juniper at 2 kg m-3, growth was not increased by liming, and 8 kg m-3 tended to reduce shoot and root growth. This reduced growth was attributed in part to greater NH4 adsorption by the bark, reducing the amount available for plant uptake, and a higher nitrification rate, leading to an elevated NO3 to NH4 ratio in the medium. Liming pine bark to improve growth of these woody plants may be unnecessary.
Abstract
The pour-through (PT) method of nutrient extraction, which involves pouring water on the container media surface and collecting the extract (leachate), was compared to the saturated soil extract (SSE) method for a 100% pine bark medium at container capacity (102% gravimetric moisture). The SSE and PT correlation coefficients, respectively, were 0.99 and 0.94 for N, 0.99 and 0.97 for P, 0.99 and 0.93 for K, and 0.99 and 0.98 for pH. As container media moisture levels increased from 50 to 102%, the PT and SSE soluble salt levels increased 1.5 and 1.6 times, respectively, while nitrate levels increased 1.7 and 1.6 times, respectively. The volume of water applied for the PT was varied from 40 to 100 ml and did not result in extraction of different levels of N, P, K, Ca, or Mg. These data indicate the PT is an alternative to the SSE for nutrient extraction from a pine bark medium.
Abstract
A 100% pine bark medium was amended with dolomitic lime at 0, 3, or 6 kg·m−3 and periodically fertilized with 210 ml of a nutrient solution containing 100 ppm N as (NH4)2S04. At the 3- and 6-kg lime treatments, medium solution NH4-N concentrations decreased rapidly while N03-N concentrations increased. At 0 kg lime, the NH4-N decrease was slower than at the 3- and 6-kg lime treatments and N03-N was not found. Similarly treated bark without plants was used to determine a N03-N accumulation rate (NAR). NAR was greatest at 6 kg of lime, except at the last 2 sampling dates, when NAR did not differ between 3 and 6 kg of lime. This lack of difference was attributed to a limiting NH4-N supply at 6 kg of lime. In a 2nd experiment, NAR of bark treated with 6 kg of lime per m3 and fertilized with 300 ppm NH4-N was 3 times greater than with bark treated with 100 ppm NH4-N, thus supporting the contention that, over time, the NH4-N supply of the 100-ppm treatment limited nitrification. These results indicate that the stimulative influence of lime on nitrification is subject to medium pH and NH4-N status that changes over time.