© 1968 by Institute of Chartered Foresters
A Note on the Dimensions of Shoots and Roots of Planting Stock
Commonwealth Forestry Institute Oxford
Published figures suggest that in Pinus and Picea spp. planting stock raised in nurseries the top/root ratio increases from the first year onwards. Transplanting checks growth in height the more severely the longer the time that has elapsed since the last transplantation, but growth in weight and diameter is much less affected, so that the shoot of a transplant is stouter and heavier than that of a seedling of the same height. On the other hand, growth of the root, both in length and weight, is encouraged, so that the top/root ratio of a transplant is much less than that of a seedling of the same age.
In seedlings of broadleaved trees top/root ratio is less than in Pinus and Picea, and usually decreases for 2 or 3 years.
The top/root ratio and dimensions of the plants are also subject to some individual variation which might be either inherent or due to external circumstances, including espacement. Information on such variation is too scanty and inconsistent to support any generalizations, except that diameter of shoot increases with increasing espacement.