Type and volumes of substrate in the production of Adenanthera pavonina L. seedlings

Abstract

Despite several studies and uses for the species Adenanthera pavonina, there is still a lack of knowledge about the seedling production process. As a result, the objective of this work was to evaluate the growth of A. pavonina seedlings in different types and volumes of substrates. The design used was completely randomized in a 6 x 2 factorial scheme (six substrates x two volumes) with four replications, where each plot contained five seedlings. The substrates tested were: commercial substrate (SC), subsoil soil (TS), TS (90%) + SC (10%), TS (80%) + SC (20%), TS (70%) + SC (30%), TS (60%) + SC (40%) and the volumes were plastic bags (15 cm x 20 cm) 1.2 liters and (18 cm x 30 cm) 1.8 liters. The variables evaluated were: stem diameter, number of leaves per plant, height, root length, shoot and root fresh mass, shoot and root dry mass and Dickson quality index. There is interaction for all variables, and that the seedlings in general showed better growth when only subsoil soil was used in containers with lower capacity, demonstrating that the volume of 1.2 L can be used without compromising the seedling development up to 90 days after sowing. So, for the production of seedlings of this species, substrate with physicochemical characteristics similar to those existing in the soil used in the present study in a container with a volume of 1.2 L must be used.