Growth of containerized jack pine seedlings inoculated with different ectomycorrhizal fungi under a controlled fertilization schedule

Containerized jack pine (Pinusbanksiana Lamb.) seedlings were grown in a peat moss – vermiculite substrate and inoculated at sowing with pure cultures of three ectomycorrhizal fungi. After 18 weeks of growth in the greenhouse, seedlings inoculated with Laccariabicolor had 97% of their short roots mycorrhizal, while those inoculated with Hebelomacylindrosporum had 36% of their rootlets mycorrhizal. No mycorrhizae were obtained with Rhizopogon sp. After both 12 and 18 weeks of growth with the fertilization schedule used, seedlings colonized with L. bicolor and H. cylindrosporum were significantly smaller than those inoculated with Rhizopogon sp. or control seedlings. After 18 weeks of growth, the available nitrogen (N) content of the substrate was considerably greater with L. bicolor inoculated seedlings than with control seedlings, whereas the available phosphorus (P) content of the substrate was the same for these two treatments. Also, after 18 weeks, seedlings mycorrhizal with L. bicolour had a. greater ...