Abstract:To screen the suitable cultivation substrate for the high-quality seedling production of Cyclocarya paliurus, container seedling cultivation was adopted to determine the effects of four cultivation substrates (J1, J2, J3 and J4) on the survival rate, growth indicators and physiological indicators of seedlings. The results showed that the survival of seedlings cultivated in J1 was 100%, which was 2.25 times that of J2. Moreover, the seedlings cultivated in J1 had better growth indicators, such as plant height, leaf area and ground diameter than those in the other three substrates. The water content of seedlings cultivated in J2 reached 67.25%, and the content of soluble sugar was only 2.33%. The content of Ca in the seedlings was the highest, while the content of Na was the lowest. The content of K and Mg in the leaf of seedlings cultivated in J4 was the highest. The translocate factor of four mineral elements in the leaves cultivated in J1 was significantly lower than that in the other three substrates. Compared with J2, the activities of SOD, POD and CAT and the content of MDA in the leaves of seedlings cultivated in J1 decreased by 92.36%, 80.98%, 87.21% and 81.51%, respectively, while the activity of PPO was 13.30 times that of J2. Through the membership function and principal component analysis, the function values were in the order of J1 > J4 > J3 > J2, and the contribution rate of J1 to the seedling cultivation was 89.71%. Mantel's analysis showed that the survival and growth indicators of seedlings were significantly correlated with water content and SOD activity. Therefore, the substrate mixed with peat soil and perlite at a volume ratio of 10:1 is a suitable cultivation substrate for C. paliurus seedlings, which has a high survival rate and vigorous plant growth.