EVALUATION OF CO-PRODUCT OF VERMICULITE AS SUBSTRATE IN SEEDLINGS PRODUCTION OF NIM

Abstract

This study evaluated the effect of different doses of organic matter and fertilizer PK neem seedlings grown in co-product of vermiculite. At the end of the experiment, the seedlings were separated into root, stem and leaves, then the material was placed in an oven and subsequent weighing. The parameters evaluated were: height, diameter, number of leaves, root length, IQD (Dickson quality index) and TDM (total dry mass). The design used in the experiment was the DIC with seven levels of organic matter (OM) (0, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30%) and three fertilization PK (Phosphorus and Potassium) (PK0, PK100, PK300) with four replications. For doses of OM and fertilization was applied polynomial regression grade 2 at 5% of probability. The results of the analysis of variance showed that there were significant positive quadratic effect among all levels of treatment with OM on all variables. However, all variables were not statistically different for PK and PK + OM in all parameters evaluated. Thus the species under study shows no demand of chemical fertilizer in their early growth stages. The IQD values at a dose of 20% of OM indicate higher rates of development. The dose of 5% of OM in co-product of vermiculite is enough to produce seedlings of nem of good quality.

Keywords

• development
• physiology
• soils
• nutrition