Rc. Beeson, BENEFITS OF PROGRESSIVELY INCREASING CONTAINER SIZE DURING NURSERY PRODUCTION DEPEND ON FERTILIZER REGIME AND SPECIES, Journal of the American Society for Horticultural Science, 118(6), 1993, pp. 752-756
Rooted photinia (Photinia x fraseri) cuttings and bare-root slash pine
(Pinus elliottii Engelm.) seedlings were transplanted initially into
0.9-, 2.9-, and 10.2-liter containers. A subset of these plants was tr
ansplanted from 0.9- and 2.9- liter containers into the next larger co
ntainer size in the series (upcanning) until representative plants of
each initial container size were growing in 10.2 liter containers. The
photinia experiment was conducted with two fertilizer regimes [solubl
e vs. controlled-release (CR) fertilizer] superimposed. When CR fertil
izer was used, upcanning from 2.9- to 10.2-litre containers produced t
he largest photinia. However, for pine, there was no advantage due to
upcanning. When soluble fertilizer was used, photinia initially transp
lanted into 0.9-liter containers and upcanned to 2.9- and then to 10.2
-liter containers had superior growth compared to those of other ferti
lizer x container combinations. Upcanning generally maintained or incr
eased plant growth rate, while growth rates of plants kept in the same
container generally declined the second season. Improved efficiency o
f the root system in nutrient absorption of upcanned plants is propose
d as the mechanism for this response.