Scientific Electronic Archives (Dec 2020)
Agroindustrial residue of carnauba as substrate alternative for seedling production of watermelon
Abstract
Substrates is an important pillar of seedling production, when it seeks to establish vigorous plants with a uniform pattern and lower possible production costs. The objective of this work was to evaluate the use of the carnauba agroindustrial residue (RC) in the alternative substrate composition for the formation of watermelon seedlings. The experiment was conducted at the Campus Professor Cinobelina Elvas, Federal University of Piauí, Bom Jesus, Piauí. A randomized block design with five treatments was used: RC and sand, in the proportions: 20/80, 40/60, 60/40, 80/20 and 100/0, with four replications and eight plants per plot, 160 plants. The variables evaluated were: emergence percentage, emergence speed index, plant height, leaf area, leaf number, shoot dry mass, neck diameter, root density, root area, root mean length and root dry mass. The seedlings with 100% RC provided higher height (4.43 cm), leaf area (16.13 cm2), number of leaves (2.0) and shoot dry mass (0.13 g / plant). The use of 80% CR and 20% sand resulted in a larger diameter of the neck (mean), root area (mean) and root mean (average) length. Already in the proportions of 60 and 40% of CR plus sand respectively, they promoted higher root density (mean). However, to produce seedlings of Citrullus lanatus with adequate quality standard, it is recommended to use 100% RC substrate because it is more responsive to aerial part and substrate with 80% RC / 20% sand, which promotes greater growth of the system root.
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