Abstract

BASAVE VILLALOBOS, Erickson et al. Top pruning as a nursery cultural practice for Caesalpinea coriaria (Jacq.) Willd. Rev. mex. de cienc. forestales [online]. 2021, vol.12, n.63, pp.138-152.  Epub Mar 26, 2021. ISSN 2007-1132.  https://doi.org/10.29298/rmcf.v12i63.799.

Nursery cultural practices are aimed both to enhance seedling quality and to increase survival of reforestations, however the effects of several cultural practices should be examined for each species in order to define their feasibility of implementation. This study analyses the effects of top pruning on the morphological quality of Caesalpinea coriaria seedlings to determine its potential as a cultural practice. In greenhouse conditions, three level of top pruning were evaluated: 0 %, 25 % and 50 %. The effects of pruning were examined on six-month old seedling by measuring some morphological attributes and quality indexes such as: shoot height, stem diameter, shoot, root, and total dry weight, shoot-to-root ratio, slenderness index, and Dickson quality index. There was not a significant effect of pruning, except on the shoot height and the slenderness index (p<0.05). The greatest values of 37.08 cm for shoot height and 12.81 of slenderness index belonged to no-pruned seedlings, while the lowest values were found for the pruned-seedlings at 25 % (29.06 cm and 10.75 for shoot height and slenderness index, respectively). Based on these results, it is concluded that top pruning does not enhance the morphological quality of plants of C. coriaria; therefore, it is not recommended as a cultural practice to produce plants of C. coriaria in nursery.

Keywords : Multipurpose tree; cascalote; reforestation; agroforestry systems; tropical dry forest; forest nurseries.

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