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Home → Publications → Tree Planters' Notes → Tree Planters' Notes Volume 30, Number 1 (1979) → Immersion Determination of Seedling Root-Top Ratio and Its Correlation With a Drought Resistance Index

Immersion Determination of Seedling Root-Top Ratio and Its Correlation With a Drought Resistance Index

The survival potential of field planted nursery stock depends, in large degree, upon its root-top ratio, i.e., the size and capacity of roots to provide a sufficient supply of water to balance the transpirational loss of crowns. It has been pointed out more than once that root-top ratio (R/T) determined on a weight basis is not always a reliable indication of the drought resistance of planting stock (1). Also, dry weight analysis require expensive ovens and balances, and a lapsed time of nearly 2 days for accurate determinations; however, volumes can be determined more quickly with cruder equipment. These considerations led the senior author to suggest a simple and rapid immersion determination of the volumetric root-top ratio, described in this note. The method was developed at Wind River Nursery, Carson, Wash.


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Author(s): James W. Edgren, Jaya G. Iyer

Publication: Tree Planters' Notes - Volume 30, Number 1 (1979)

Section: general

Volume: 30

Number: 1