Assessment of Root-Shoot Growth of Tree Seedlings Raised in Conventional Container Type and Air-prune Pots

The experiment investigated the effects of different growing environments on various shoot and root characteristics of six tree species, including , , , , and, Terminalia bellirica Tecomella undulata Terminalia arjuna Azadirachta indica, Syzygium cumini Madhuca longifolia over a period twelve months.The seedlings of 30 days growth were transplanted into four container environments: black polybags kept on cemented floor (C1), white polybags kept on nursery floor (C2), black polybags kept on nursery floor (C3), and airpots (C4), using a factorial completely randomized design with four replications.There were significant differences for various traits except root-shoot ratio.After one year of growth, continued to show superior growth in height (67.36 cm) while for collar diameter (8.62 mm). Terminalia arjunaTerminalia bellerica However, the reverse trend was observed for tap root length and diameter.The seedling fresh (79.65 g/seedling) and dry (33.37 g/seedling) biomass was highest for .produced the lowest seedling growth and biomass except tap root diameter in Syzygium cumini Maduca longifolia Tecomella undulata.The container environment (C3) showed the maximum values for root shoot growth and biomass production due to higher production of lateral roots.Quality assessments indicated that the good root shoot ratio and sturdiness quotient (SQ) were obtained for Syzygium cumini Terminalia bellerica in air-prune pots; and in air-prune pots.The maximum Dickson's quality index (DQI) was observed for S5C3 followed by S4C3 and S5C2.Besides, root shoot ratio and SQ, DQI was significantly maximum for the seedling grown in black polybags kept on nursery floor.