Articles
LINGONBERRY ESTABLISHMENT ON SOILS AMENDED WITH FISH WASTE AND WOOD CHIPS
Article number
574_45
Pages
305 – 308
Language
English
Abstract
Year old lingonberries (Vaccinium vitis-idaea subsp. vitis-idaea) were planted in Rabideau silt loam soils (Trapper Creek, Alaska) amended with five combinations of cannery fish waste (90% salmon, 10% halibut) as an organic fertilizer and wood chips recovered from rotting windrows of tree slash as a soil amendment.
Control consisted of mineral soils.
Treatments included fish waste only, 2:1 (v:v) fish waste:wood chips, 1:1 (v:v) fish waste:wood chips, 1:2 (v:v) fish waste:wood chips and wood chips only.
Total volume of an amendment applied singly or a combination of amendments was 150 l.m-2. Each amendment was tilled into the plots, and planting occurred six weeks later.
Plants were grown for one full season following the planting season to study establishment and vegetative growth on this organic mix.
All treatments with fish waste showed the greatest overall plant growth.
The treatment with fish waste only produced the greatest number and dry weight of stems and leaves (average 45 stems, 680 leaves, 8g per plant) of all treatments.
Rhizome production varied widely among plants (0-13 rhizomes per plant) and did not differ among treatments.
Vegetative growth was inhibited by addition of wood chips alone.
Soil tests during the first growing season showed 2118-2749 μg.g-1 total available N, 255-281 μg.g-1 P and 787-880 μg.g-1 K for fish-amended soils, 106 μg.g-1 N, 25 μg.g-1 P and 235 μg.g-1 K for the control and 20 μg.g-1 N, 27 μg.g-1 P and 428 μg.g-1 K for the wood chip plots without fish.
Lingonberries that normally require low nutrient levels grew best at the highest nutrient levels and showed no adverse effects from the fish waste.
Wood chips did not provide any benefit for the establishment of lingonberries on mineral soils during the first year.
Control consisted of mineral soils.
Treatments included fish waste only, 2:1 (v:v) fish waste:wood chips, 1:1 (v:v) fish waste:wood chips, 1:2 (v:v) fish waste:wood chips and wood chips only.
Total volume of an amendment applied singly or a combination of amendments was 150 l.m-2. Each amendment was tilled into the plots, and planting occurred six weeks later.
Plants were grown for one full season following the planting season to study establishment and vegetative growth on this organic mix.
All treatments with fish waste showed the greatest overall plant growth.
The treatment with fish waste only produced the greatest number and dry weight of stems and leaves (average 45 stems, 680 leaves, 8g per plant) of all treatments.
Rhizome production varied widely among plants (0-13 rhizomes per plant) and did not differ among treatments.
Vegetative growth was inhibited by addition of wood chips alone.
Soil tests during the first growing season showed 2118-2749 μg.g-1 total available N, 255-281 μg.g-1 P and 787-880 μg.g-1 K for fish-amended soils, 106 μg.g-1 N, 25 μg.g-1 P and 235 μg.g-1 K for the control and 20 μg.g-1 N, 27 μg.g-1 P and 428 μg.g-1 K for the wood chip plots without fish.
Lingonberries that normally require low nutrient levels grew best at the highest nutrient levels and showed no adverse effects from the fish waste.
Wood chips did not provide any benefit for the establishment of lingonberries on mineral soils during the first year.
Publication
Authors
V.L. Talbot, P.S. Holloway, G.E.M. Matheke
Keywords
Vaccinium vitis-idaea subsp. vitis-idaea, cowberry, partridgeberry, organic soil amendments, wood chips, fish fertilizer
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