CuCO3-painted Containers and Root Pruning Affect Apple and Green Ash Root Growth and Cytokinin Levels

Abstract

CuCO3 at 100 g·liter-1 in a paint carrier applied to interior container surfaces effectively prevented root deformation in container-grown Malus domestica Borkh. and Fraxinus pennsylvanica Marsh. seedlings. CuCO3 treatments nearly doubled the number of white unsuberized root tips in both species. CuCO3 treatment increased some measures of root and shoot growth before and after transplanting to larger untreated containers. Root pruning at transplanting tended to reduce root and shoot fresh and dry matter accumulation in F. pennsylvanica seedlings and shoot extension in M. domestica seedlings. In some cases, root pruning of M. domestics at transplanting from CuCO3-treated containers increased root growth compared to unpruned CuCO3-treated and untreated seedlings. Changes in growth induced by CuCO3 and root pruning were not related to changes in trans -zeatin riboside-like activity in the xylem sap of-apple.