Amelioration of planting stress by soil amendment with a hydrogel–mycorrhiza mixture for early establishment of beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) seedlings

Table 2 Influence of planting stress and soil amendment with a hydrogel–EMF mixture on growth and leaf formation of young beech trees

Parameter	0 h	0 h + A	2 h	2 h + A	6 h	6 h + A	P values
Parameter	0 h	0 h + A	2 h	2 h + A	6 h	6 h + A	Planting stress	Soil amendment	Interaction
Diameter increment (mm)	2.3 ± 0.8ab	3.1 ± 1.0a	2.4 ± 1.0ab	2.9 ± 0.7a	1.3 ± 1.2b	1.6 ± 1.5b	0.000	0.014	0.729
Leader shoot increment (mm)	70 ± 4ab	94 ± 16b	47 ± 5a	75 ± 7ab	42 ± 9a	70 ± 15ab	0.048	0.004	0.976
Leaf area (cm² plant⁻¹)	266 ± 124bc	537 ± 253a	215 ± 105c	501 ± 230ab	178 ± 137c	311 ± 295abc	0.076	0.000	0.491
No. of leaves	64 ± 19ab	77 ± 27a	71 ± 28ab	76 ± 27a	36 ± 25b	60 ± 31ab	0.019	0.065	0.596
No. of new buds	30 ± 14ab	36 ± 12a	28 ± 10ab	33 ± 12ab	11 ± 9c	20 ± 13bc	0.000	0.034	0.881

Growth was determined as increment in leader shoot height and increment in stem diameter from the 10th March to the 18th of August. Data show means (n = 15 ± SE). Different letters in rows indicate significant difference at P ≤ 0.05 (Tukey’s HSD test following ANOVA). +A = soil amendment; 0, 2, and 6 h indicate the time of air exposure of bare-rooted seedlings before planting

ISSN: 1297-966X