Twenty-seven variables were tested to determine whether five slash pine {Pinus elliottii var. elliottit) progeny groups of known parentage differed in ability to absorb and efficiently utilize nutrients. Fertilization X progeny group interactions were significant for N and K in needles and stems, and for CO 2 absorption by needles during the first year of growth in an environmental control room. Phosphorus-32 in stems varied between progeny groups, and relative amounts of P 32 absorbed were ascertained from radioautographs.
A slash pine plantation in the lower Coastal Plain of Georgia was fertilized at age 9 with 200 pounds per acre of N, 44 pounds per acre of P, and with both elements. Diameter and basal area growth response to N was obtained for each of the first 3 years following treatment, but maximum stimulation occurred the year after fertilization. Diameter growth of the largest 400 trees per acre was also significantly increased by N treatment. P supplements gave no response in the deep sandy soil. Height growth responses were not apparent.
Concentration of N in needles was increased 1 year after treatment, but by the end of the third growing season, no differences were apparent for N, P, K, and Ca content in foliage. Chemical analyses are also given for L and F layers, the latter being high in N. Neither needle lengths nor soil analyses differed between treatments after 3 years.
Foliar analysis is useful in indicating soils deficient in K for normal growth of certain conifers. Exchangeable K in Adirondack sand plains of glacial outwash origin was found related to K in foliage of Firms strobus, Fagus grandifolia, Populus tremuloides, Fragaria virginiana, and Andropogon gerardi. Foliar K decreased as the season progressed for Pinus strobus, Acer rubrum, and Prunus virginiana. Plants fertilized with KC1 were analyzed for comparison. Exchangeable K, acid-soluble P, total N, organic matter, and pH analyses for soils are reported.
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