IMPACT OF ORGANIC FERTILIZER "DOSTATOK" ON THE SURVIVAL AND GROWTH OF PINE PLANTATIONS

Abstract

The survival and growth of pine plantations, created at the clear cuttings, with the use of organic fertilizer "Dostatok" are analyzed. The research was conducted in 11 forest units of the State Enterprise "Vyshche-Dubechna Forestry" in the fresh poor and rich forest sites. The plantations were created according to the following schemes: 4 rows of Scotch pine and 1 row of red oak with placement of seedlings 1.5×0.5 m and 1.5×1.0 m by planting them in a furrow formed by a plow PKL-70. The total forest pine plantations with application of fertilizer amounted to 22.2 hectares. The agrochemical analysis revealed that 40.6 % of organic matter was concentrated in the fertilizer, whereas in the organic layer of fresh poor and rich pine sites, the content of humus was 22.2 % and 30.7 % respectively. At the same time, fertilizer is characterized by a neutral environment, while the organic soil of fresh poor and rich pine sites has a very high acidity of the pH of the salt extract, which fluctuates within 3.5–3.6. The double predominance of the organic matter content in the fertilizer promotes the survival and growth of pine plantations. It was established that the introduction of fertilizer "Dostavok" in the form of tablets on the root system of pine seedlings increases the survival of forest plantations, which on sandy and sandy loam soils, respectively, reaches 90 and 95 %. Values of pH salt extraction indicate that the soils are very acid (3.5 and 3.1), with an average level of humus (2.4 and 7.4 %), low levels of ammonia and nitrate nitrogen and mobile phosphorus. Soil of fresh poor pine site has an elevated level of mobile potassium (139.87 mg·kg-1), while the fresh rich pine site is characterized by a low level of potassium, which is 46.39 mg·kg-1. Granulometric analysis of the soil showed that the poor sites are represented by sandy soils and rich sites – rough-dust sandy loam soils. Almost double the predominance of the organic matter content in the fertilizer "Dostatok" contributes to the survival and growth of pine plantations. The annual increment of pine seedlings on 4–7 cm was more than at the control. The use of bio-fertilizer also reduces the number of manual care and accelerates the closure in the rows, which in turn allows the transfer of forest crops to covered forest area a year earlier.

Keywords

• nutrients; type of forest sites; sandy soil; seedling; root system; annual increment