Effectof formulated fertilizer on the saplings of Castanopsis hystrix [ Fagales:Fagaceae]
A field fertilization experiment was carried out to study the effect of multi-element combination of N, P, K, B, Zn fertilizer on the saplings of Castanopsis hystrix [ Fagales: Fagaceae ] based on the orthogonal design. The results showed that the formulated fertilizer was very effective to promote the growth of Castanopsis hystrix saplings. Application of N fertilizer alone could significantly promote the growth, but the effect of individual applications of other nutrients was not significant. The interaction of P and B fertilizer, and that of K and Zn fertilizer had significant positive effect on yield, re﹣flecting the significance of multi-element formula fertilization. The regression analysis of fertilizer effect indicated that the optimal fertilizer nutrient application rate and ratio per plant sapling are:N 29.4 g, P2O5 54.0 g, K2O 45.0 g, B 2.25 g, Zn 3.15 g, and N ∶ P2O5 ∶ K2O ∶ B ∶ Zn = 1.0 ∶ 1.8 ∶ 1.5 ∶ 0.1 ∶ 0.1, respectively. Using this formula, the height of the tree could reach more than 119 cm after 1 year of fertilization. The study proved that appropriately formulated fertilizer could effectively promote the growth of Castanopsis hystrix saplings.