The effect of soil volume on young peach tree growth and water use

Abstract

An experiment designed to study the effects of different root volumes was installed in Fall 1991. `Golden Queen' peach trees [ Prunus persica (L.) Batsch.] were planted into different isolated soil volumes (0.025, 0.06, 0.15, 0.4, and 1.0 m 3 ), which were essentially individual drainage lysimeters. Trunk cross-sectional area (TCA) increased from 5.76 to 14.23 cm 2 for the smallest and largest volumes, respectively, while leaf area was 4.56 and 21.32 m 2 for the respective treatments. Leaf size was not affected by soil volume. Soil vo..