QUALIDADE DO FRUTO DE COQUEIRO ANÃO VERDE EM RESPOSTA À ADUBAÇÃO POTÁSSICA

Abstract

It was evaluated the influence of doses of KCl applied to soil and to the leaf axil of the the quality of the fruit and on the concentration of K in the water and peel of the fruit. The experiment was carried out at a commercial orchard of green dwarf coconut tree (Cocos nucifera L.) in Campos dos Goytacazes, Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil, in a typical Ortic Quartzarenic Neossol, during one year, using a randomized complete block design with five treatments and sixteen replicates. The treatments consisted in two application ways (in the soil and in the axil of the leaf number nine) and two manuring levels (1666 and 3333 g of KCl plant-1 year-1 in the soil and 833 and 1666 g plant-1 year-1 in the leaf axil, with three month intervals), besides a control, without KCl. The application of KCl resulted in the increase of the concentration and of the content of K in the water and in the peel of the fruit. There was no influence of potassium fertilization on the mass, the volume, the pH, C.E. and SST of the coconut water. The application of high doses of K should be reviewed in view of the low recovery rate of the potassium fertilizer.