Controlling Root Systems with Slit Containers
S. Watanabe and M. Nakamura
In the container production of many horticultural plants, root circling is a serious problem. It is specially important in the production of large trees to prevent root circling as it has a deleterious effect on the growth after planting out. In many nurseries, however, trees are often grown without any treatment to prevent root circling. As a result, root distortion and aging can be observed at an early stage of growth. In addition, street trees with weak root systems are uprooted easily by strong winds such as typhoons. Therefore, we investigated the combination of soil media in the container, the amount of watering, and the material and structure of the container in order to avoid root circling.
The soil medium used in the experiment was mainly composed of a mixture of red earth or weathered granite as the basal medium and peat moss. The mixture was adjusted by adding kanumatsuchi, hyugatsuchi, perlite, and charcoal to improve the physical condition of the medium. Attention was paid
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