Effect of trimming and mycorrhizal inoculation on the growth of Hopea odorata rooted cuttings

M., Patahayah and Lee, S. S. (2005) Effect of trimming and mycorrhizal inoculation on the growth of Hopea odorata rooted cuttings. [Conference or Proceeding]

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Abstract

A nursery trial was set up at the Forest Research Institute Malaysia (FRIM) to determine the effect of trimming and ectomycorrhizal (ECM) inoculation on the growth of Hopea odorata rooted cuttings. This study consisted of four treatments T1 - ectomycorrhizal inoculation, T2 - trimming, T3 - ectomycorrhizal inoculation + trimming and T4 - untreated control (without ectomycorrhizal inoculation and without trimming). Hopea odorata cuttings were inoculated with an indigenous ectomycorrhizal inoculum, Tomentella sp. in peat: vermiculite. Cuttings were inoculated one week after transplanting into polybags containing a standard potting mix. Trimming was carried out at two-week intervals when the plants showed signs of producing a second leader. The height of the plants was measured at monthly intervals. The plants were harvested after six months. Total root length of each plant was measured and shoot biomass was calculated based on oven dry weight. Cuttings with ectomycorrhizal inoculation had better growth in terms of height, total root length and shoot biomass compared to non-inoculated plants. The combination treatment of ECM inoculation and trimming (T3) produced plants with the best height growth while the treatment of ECM inoculation alone (T1) produced plants with significantly better root length and shoot biomass. Trimming alone (T2) produced plants with the lowest growth performance for all parameters. No significant difference in root biomass was observed regardless of the treatment. Application of mycorrhizal inoculation is recommended to improve growth of plants in the nursery. Further research on ectomycorrhizal inoculation should also be carried out especially with other dipterocarps to better understand the symbiotic activities of both the fungus and the host.

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