Role of planting density on the growth efficiency of Juniperus virginiana L. under open-air hydroponic conditions of the Ararat Valley
G.S. Davtyan Institute of Hydroponics Problems, NAS RA, 108 Noragyugh,
AM0082 Yerevan, Armenia
*Correspondence: astghik84k@rambler.ru
Abstract:
Juniperus virginiana (J. virginiana) is an evergreen coniferous tree, which has wide
usage not only in green construction, but also in folk medicine as a source of
valuable bioactive substances. The high demand for the tree forces the
development of new methods for plant cultivation. Hydroponics is considered to
be one of the most popular methods. As the soilless growing perspectiveness of J. virginiana in Armenia has
previously been confirmed by our experiments, the optimization of growing
conditions, which bests suits for the enhancement of the growth efficiency and
accelerated production of viable trees remains an actual issue. Optimization of
the planting density (PD) is one of them. Taking into account the
above-mentioned in the frame of this study the role of PD on the growth
efficiency of J․ virginiana has been studied in
open-air hydroponic conditions of the Ararat Valley for the first time. The
saplings of the tree were planted in volcanic red slag with three different
PDs: 10, 12 and 14 plants per square meter. According to the biometrical
measurements, no significant differences between the variants were observed at
the end of the experimental period. In October an average height and stem
diameter of the plants grown in various PDs were fluctuated between 71.7–76.5cm and 13.9–14.5mm, accordingly. Positive
relationship between the plant height and stem diameter of J․ virginiana during the whole vegetation period has been
observed. Our preliminary studies showed, that all the applied PDs are
preferable for early years of hydroponic growing of
J․ virginiana in open-air hydroponic conditions of the Ararat Valley.
Key words:
hydroponics, J․ virginiana, plant height, planting density (PD), stem diameter