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ABSTRACT
Imbalanced fertilization of nursery stock can lead to nutrient disorders which affect plant quality and productivity. Castanopsis hystrix Miq. is a plantation hardwood species that is being widely established in south China. Nutrient disorders are common in planting stock and difficult to manage, as the causes are unknown. Therefore, macronutrient deletion fertilizer treatments were applied to C. hystrix seedlings and foliar symptoms, growth performance, leaf area, photosynthetic pigments and foliar nutrient interactions were determined. The appearance of foliar symptoms including chlorosis, marginal scorching, necrotic spotting and leaf malformation will be useful for the initial diagnosis of fertilizer imbalances in this species in forest nurseries. Vector analysis revealed that foliar nutrient interactions tended to be enhanced under nutrient imbalance, and these findings may provide a preliminary guideline for confirming macronutrient disorders of this species in nursery production.
Acknowledgments
We thank to Cai Lan Meng for assistance in the nursery and Le Su Yang and Bin Yu for nutrient determinations.
Funding
This study was financially supported by the Fund of National Key Technologies R & D Program (Project No: 2012BAD22B01) and Director of Experimental Center of Tropical Forestry, Chinese Academy of Forestry (Project No.: RL2011-5).