Abstract Severely stunted, phosphorus-deficient Douglas-fir seedlings grown in a newly developed western Oregon nursery failed to respond to fertilization during their second growing season. The seedlings proved to be nonmycorrhizal; ectomycorrhizal fungi were apparently sparse in the soil due to the previous long period of agricultural use of the tract combined with the land leveling and soil fumigation during development of the nursery. Inoculation of affected beds with mycorrhizal fungi in soil from a nearby bed of ectomycorrhizal transplant seedlings significantly increased phosphorus uptake and growth of seedlings during the third growing season. Seedling growth was further enhanced by combining inoculation with fertilization. By the end of the third growing season, most surviving seedlings on uninoculated plots had begun to form mycorrhizae from natural sources of infection.
Trappe et al. (Mon,) studied this question.
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