3. Results
3.1. Plant parameters
3.1.1. Biometric
In the forest soil, inoculation significantly improved plant growth, with those receiving the combined inocula being significantly larger than those inoculated with only P. involutus or Mesorhizobium sp.. In the alkaline sediment, inoculation with
Mesorhizobium sp. significantly enhanced growth, the most pronounced being the root dry weight by a 1.6-fold. The combined inoculum had a negative effect in shoot dry weight in the alkaline sediment. Overall, non-inoculated seedlings growing in thealkaline sediment had approximately twice the weight of those growing in forest soil. Overall, root length was not significantly different among treatments (data not shown).