Volume 27 |Cover|mage Volume 27 |Cover|ma e

Issue 4 Issue 4
October 1963 October 1963
An Analysis of Growth of Oil Palms under
Nursery Conditions--I. Establishment and
Growth in the Wet Season )
A. R . R EES, L. C. CHAPAS
Abstract
Growth of oil palm seedlings over the period
2-31 weeks after planting in the nursery was
studied using growth-analysis techniques.
Curves of the Gompertz type were fitted to
the basic data of plant dry weight and leaf
area, and from the equations of the fitted
curves, net assimilation rate ( E A), relative
growth-rate ( R w), and relative leaf growth-
rate ( R A) were calculated.
The low values of EA ( 0.16-0-31 g/dm2/
week) and R w ( 1.42.2 per cent./per day)
confirm earlier work on oil palm seedlings.
The time trend of increasing EA and R w over
the period studied is associated with steadily
increasing solar radiation over the second
half of the period.
Leaf-area ratio is markedly affected by
transplanting, and as this unbalance of leaf
area/total dry weight has been shown to be
associated with low rates of EA in seedlings,
it is suggested that the low values of EA and
R w in the first half of the experimental
period are due to the effect of transplanting.
These findings are discussed in relation to
current nursery practice.
Oxford University Press
1. Ann _ 1sj q_ r_ ( 1963) 27 ( 4); 601-614.
Articles [14] Articles [14]
An Analysis of Growth of Oil Palms under
Nursery Conditionsl|. The Effect of
Spacing and Season on Growth
A. R . R EES
>
Abstract
Three experiments on the growth of watered
nursery oil palms are described, the results
of which provide estimates of seasonal
variation in net assimilation rate ( EA) and
relative growth-rate ( R w) in the tropics ( 6
33' N.).
The range of values obtained for EA and R w
is similar to that found with seedlings and
during early growth in the nursery ( EA =
o.l8-0.32 g/dm2/week, R w= o.84l.70 per
cent/day) and there is very little effect of
season on EA; such variation as exists
appears to be related to solar radiation.
A spacing experiment indicated that EA is
independent of leaf area index ( L) when L is
below about 2.2, but that above this level EA
decreases with increasing L, falling to zero at
L = 5.4. The crop growth-rate ( C) is maximal
when L is between 2.5 and 3, the maximum
value observed was 0.62 g/dm 2/week
( equivalent to 3.22 X104 kg/ha/annum).
These results are compared with other
estimates of growth and assimilation rates of
seedling, nursery and adult oil palms, and
are discussed in relation to the efficiency of
energy fixation, and apparent growth-rates.
1. Ann B ot ( 1963) 21( 4): 615-626. |
Oxford University Press