Abstract:

After the terminal bud is set, the seedling biomass can still accumulate substantially and accordingly the nutrient concentration in the seedling declines in the fall. The dilution caused by biomass increase could be relieved by fall fertilization. Abroad, fall fertilization is widely applied for culturing many evergreen tree seedlings such as Picea abies, Picea mariana, Pinus taeda, Pinus elliottii, Pinus resinosa, Pinus ponderosa, Pseudotsuga menziesii, Eucalyptus globulus. However in China, just a few studies are referred to fall fertilization with the seedlings of Platycladus orientalis and triploid Populus tomentosa. In this paper, many aspects in the recent studies were reviewed, including the of the morphological and physiological mechanism happened in the seedlings regulated by fall fertilization, field performance of the seedling conducted by fall fertilization, as well as the system of the fall fertilization. Translocation of nutrients was specifically analyzed about how to regulate the seedling quality at nursery and subsequent field performance after the seedlings were applied fertilization in the fall. Differences were further discussed between the seedlings of evergreen and deciduous trees with fertilization in the autumn. Based on the aspects, the future in the study was prospected.

Key words: fall fertilization, seedling quality, field performance, retranslocation