DYNAMICS IN THE RHIZOSPHERE OF MALUS HUPEHENSIS APPLE ROOTSTOCK SEEDLINGS

Malus hupehensis Reld seeds, collected from the healthy, mature trees at Wanshougong Forest Farm in Pingyi County, Shandong Province, China, were sown into the mix with 1/3 loam soil + 1/3 silt sand + 1/3 compost manure after having been stratificated under 0-2⁰C for 60 days.
The seedlings grew in the mix till the three-leaf stage, and then transplanted into rhizoboxes with 4 plants in each box.
The rhizoboxes were put into ground, and the top of the boxes were kept exactly the same level as the soil surface in order to obtain the actual soil conditions as much as possible.
After a root mattress was formed in the center of the rhizobox, plants were randomly harvested from May to November at month-interval, and soil was sampled carefully and separated into rhizoplane, rhizosphere and bulk soil.
Redox potential (Eh), pH, and nutrients in the soil were analyzed.
The results showed that pH and Eh were lower in the rhizosphere than in bulk soil during the season.
NH₄⁺, NO₃^– and P were depleted, and Ca and Mg enriched in the rhizosphere.
K didn’t changed much across the rhizosphere during the experimental period.
Fe, Mn and Cu didn’t show significant depletion or enrichment in the rhizosphere, but Zn enriched in the rhizosphere in the later season.

IV International Symposium on Mineral Nutrition of Deciduous Fruit Crops

S. Dong, H. Shu

rhizosphere, Malus hupehensis, nutrient, seedling

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2001.564.20