Abstract

Modern forestry in the European Union and in Poland is in constant search of environment-friendly technological solutions. These also relate to nursery production, in which attempts are made to apply non-chemical plant-protection products. The objective of this study was to assess the effects of salicylic acid, oxalic acid and chitosan (applied in the form of Beta-chikol®) in controlling damping-off and promoting the growth of Scots pine seedlings under nursery conditions. All the substances were used in seed treatment and in the form of foliar spray, 4 times during the growing season, in the following concentrations: salicylic acid 1% and 2%, oxalic acid 0.5% and 1%, and chitosan 2%. Seedlings were inventoried three times: 3 and 6 weeks after seed sowing, and at the end of the growing season. All seedlings were counted in 1-metre segments of individual rows of the seedbed. At the end of the growing season, parameters of seedling growth like shoot length, root-collar diameter, root length and the dry mass of above-ground parts were determined. The growth of pine seedlings was found to be stimulated by both chitosan and oxalic acid, while salicylic acid proved inhibitory to growth when present at 2% concentration, and showed no detectable influence on biometric parameters at 1% concentration. Numbers of seedlings germinating per 1-metre segment were significantly greater than in the (unprotected) control, where chitosan was applied. Likewise, oxalic acid applied at both concentrations was associated with greater numbers of germinating pine seedlings than in the control, albeit the statistical significance of this difference was achieved only 6 weeks after seed sowing, and only with the 0.5% concentration. Numbers of seedlings per metre-long segment were significantly lower in response to both concentrations of salicylic acid applied. Both chitosan (applied as Beta-chikol®) and 0.5% oxalic acid resulted in seedling protection against damping-off and enhanced growth, whereas the applied concentrations of salicylic acid were presumably excessive, hence the negative impact on both germination and growth.

  Keywords

---

Plant Biostimulants, Induced Resistance, Pinus sylvestris, Growth Stimulation, Disease Control

Authors’ Info

Paper Info

Citation

Soltys A, Studnicki M, Zawadzki G, Aleksandrowicz-Trzcinska M (2020). The effects of salicylic acid, oxalic acid and chitosan on damping-off control and growth in Scots pine in a forest nursery. iForest 13: 441-446. - doi: 10.3832/ifor3244-013

Academic Editor

Alberto Santini

Paper history

Copyright Information

© SISEF - The Italian Society of Silviculture and Forest Ecology 2020

  Open Access

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.

Web Metrics

Citation Metrics

Article Citations

Article citations are based on data periodically collected from the Clarivate Web of Science web site
(last update: Feb 2023)

(No citations were found up to date. Please come back later)

---

Articles citing this article

List of the papers citing this article based on CrossRef Cited-by.

References

Related Content

Conservation of Betula oycoviensis, an endangered rare taxon, using vegetative propagation methods
Vítámvás J, Kuneš I, Viehmannová I, Linda R, Baláš M
Vol. 13, pp. 107-113 (online: Apr 2020)

The effect of silver and copper nanoparticles on the growth and mycorrhizal colonisation of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) in a container nursery experiment
Aleksandrowicz-Trzcinska M, Szaniawski A, Studnicki M, Bederska-Blaszczyk M, Olchowik J, Urban A
Vol. 11, pp. 690-697 (online: Oct 2018)

Forest litter as the mulch improving growth and ectomycorrhizal diversity of bare-root Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) seedlings
Aučina A, Rudawska M, Leski T, Skridaila A, Pašakinskiene I, Riepšas E
Vol. 8, pp. 394-400 (online: Aug 2015)

Controlled-release fertilizers combined with Pseudomonas fluorescens rhizobacteria inoculum improve growth in Pinus halepensis seedlings
Dominguez-Nuñez JA, Delgado-Alvez D, Berrocal-Lobo M, Anriquez A, Albanesi A
Vol. 8, pp. 12-18 (online: Feb 2015)

The effectiveness of short-term microwave irradiation on the process of seed extraction from Scots pine cones (Pinus sylvestris L.)
Aniszewska M, Zychowicz W, Gendek A
Vol. 13, pp. 73-79 (online: Feb 2020)

Use of overburden waste for London plane (Platanus × acerifolia) growth: the role of plant growth promoting microbial consortia
Karličić V, Radić D, Jovičić-Petrović J, Lalević B, Morina F, Curguz VG, Raičević V
Vol. 10, pp. 692-699 (online: Aug 2017)

Seedling quality and short-term field performance of three Amazonian forest species as affected by site conditions
Guimarães ZTM, Da Silva DC, Ferreira MJ
Vol. 17, pp. 80-89 (online: Apr 2024)

Substrates and nutrient addition rates affect morphology and physiology of Pinus leiophylla seedlings in the nursery stage
Buendía Velázquez MV, López López M&, Cetina Alcalá VM, Diakite L
Vol. 10, pp. 115-120 (online: Feb 2017)

Influence of mother plant and scarification agents on seed germination rate and vigor in Retama sphaerocarpa L. (Boissier)
Fabião A, Faria C, Almeida MH, Fabião A
Vol. 7, pp. 306-312 (online: Oct 2014)

The combined effects of Pseudomonas fluorescens CECT 844 and the black truffle co-inoculation on Pinus nigra seedlings
Dominguez-Nuñez JA, Medina M, Berrocal-Lobo M, Anriquez A, Albanesi A
Vol. 8, pp. 624-630 (online: Oct 2015)