Influence of Substrate Composition on the Quality of Liquidambar formosana Container Seedlings

The physical and chemical properties of 15 substrates composed of peat, perlite, rice hulls and saw dust, and the influence of the substrates upon the quality and the physiological characteristics of Liquidambar formosana seedlings were evaluated. The results showed that there were significant differences in the physical and chemical properties of the 15 substrates including bulk density, field capacity, pH value, organic material content and effective nitrogen content, though all the 15 substrates met the requirements of light media. The field capacity and the pH value of the substrates dropped, while the N content increased along with the increment of peat content. There were significant differences in the plant height, basal diameter, biomass per plant, quality index (QI) among the container bred L. formosana seedlings with the 15 types of substrates. The seedling quality was improved with the increase of peat proportion in the substrates. The multiobjective comprehensive evaluation and policy making were conducted based on the physical and chemical properties of the substrates, the container bred seedling quality and the production cost, and the result showed that the best substrate compositions were No.5 (peat 60%+ perlite 40%), and No.7 (peat 46% + perlite 27% + rice husk 27%).