Lady palm (Rhapis excelsa) has high commercial value, specially in ornaments of vases and gardens located on shade. However, the information about its requirements in fertilizer and great terms of shading are little. To shade, the common used material is shade net black. The color shade net stimulate the vegetal growth and it is recently used in the commercial system. The aim of this work was to evaluate the influence of different percents and types of shades and foliar fertilizer in development of seedlings this palm. The plants used in this experiment were cultivated in recipients with soil, organic matter and sand (1:1:1), with the addition of 10 g of fertilizer by liter of substrate. These plants were four years old approximately. The measurements of increasing of height and number of leaves were taken at 105 and 195 days since the beginning of the experiment. It was also observed the number and height of seedlings, width from leaflets, as well as the final plant height at 195 days. The foliar fertilizer was not affected in growth of seedlings. The different types of screening either affect significantly the final height of the plants, indicating than the growth of palm Rhapis can be under any kind of shade.
Color shade nets; palm; light; fertilizer
