Enhanced growth of wild cherry using micropropagated plants and mycorrhizal inoculation

Mycorrhizal inoculation is a promising, sustainable technique to enhance plant growth. We evaluated the effects of mycorrhizal inoculation and of the use of two substrates, soil and peat, on the growth of wild cherry, Prunus avium L., on the weaning and post-weaning. After weaning, plants were grown for 13 weeks in a greenhouse on either 40% soil or 40% peat at two levels of fertiliser: 2 or 4 g m(-3) of a 16:9:12 slow-release fertiliser. They were subsequently kept for a further 120 days in a frost-free greenhouse before outplanting to the field. The results show that enhanced plant growth after seven months in the field was associated with increased peat and fertiliser levels in the substrates during the post-weaning growth phase, and with prior mycorrhizal inoculation by a G. deserticola isolate, which compensated for less favourable substrate conditions. Plants inoculated with G. intraradices had more branches positioned in the lower half of the stem, while plants inoculated with G. deserticola had more branches in the upper half of the stem.