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Yale University New Haven, Connecticut 06511

School of Forestry and Environmental Studies     THE EFFECT OF A VITAMIN-HUMIC-ALGAL BIOSTIMULANT (Roots®) ON SURVIVAL AND GROWTH OF LOBLOLLY PINE (Pinus taeda) SEEDLINGS THREE YEARS AFTER TRANSPLANTATION   Ricardo 0. Russo1, Graerne P. Berlyn1 , Malcolm P. Davison2, and James M. Harvey3 Yale University, School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, New Haven, Connecticut, 2Roots Inc. New Haven, Connecticut, and Pinewood Plantation, Uoyd, Florida   INTRODUCTION Biostimulants can be defined as non-nutritional products that have a  beneficial effect on plant growth. These effects are best defined empirically  through crop-specific greenhouse and field tests (Sean and Kingman, 1973; Senn,  1987). The particular biostimulant, developed at the Yale School of Forestry and  Environmental Studies (Berlyn and Russo, 1990) is a proprietary mixture of  humic acid extracts, marine algae extracts, thiamine mononitrate (vitamin Bi),  and a non-hormonal reductant plant metabolite. This class of product is termed  OB for organic biostimulant and the specific formulation used here is known as  “Roots” (LISA Products Corporation, 25 Science Park, New Haven, CT). The objective of this study was to assess the effectiveness of “Roots” on the  survival and growth of loblolly pine seedlings following transplanting to the field.   MATERIALS AND METHODS   In January 1988, one year old loblolly pine seedlings were transplanted from a  commercial forest nursery (in Greenville, Florida to a plantation site in Lloyd,  Jefferson County, Florida, 3 miles East from the Leon County line. Monthly daily  mean temperature of the Talahassee airport (located 30 miles from the site) has been  reported as 68°F, with a monthly daily maximum of 78.8°F and monthly daily

 

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