Assessment of the growth of forest seedlings in new substrates from wood waste and sewage sludge

Abstract

The morphological parameters of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) seedlings grown in experimental substrates made from sewage sludge and pine shavings (substrate 1), and pine bark (substrate 2) were studied. The production time of the substrate varied: substrate 1 – 2 months, substrate 2 – 1.5 years. Seedlings of 2-year-old pine were selected for research. To analyze the parameters of seedlings, average values and square deviations were calculated, reliability was determined by Fisher and Student tests. To analyze the length of the root system, one-way analysis of variance was used in MS Excel. For roots of the 2nd order and total root length, the observed values of Fisher’s criterion are: 15.42 and 11.27, which exceeds the critical value of 3.18 and indicates a significant difference between seedlings grown in the manufactured substrates. The diameter of the root collar of seedlings grown in peat exceeded that of seedlings grown on substrate 2 by 13%, and in substrate 2 by 4.4%. Maximum root length for seedlings from substrate 1. Substrates from wood waste and sewage sludge can replace fossil peat without losing the quality of growing seedlings and contribute to the emergence of improved quality characteristics of seedlings.