Potential use of coffee husk as a substrate constituent for the production of forest species seedlings

Abstract

In the production of forest species seedlings there are several factors that influence their growth. Among these, one of the most important is the composition of the substrate. In this sense, it is essential to select good constituents that meet this demand. The objective of this work was to evaluate the initial growth of seedlings of Eucalyptus urophylla, Peltophorum dubium and Eremanthus erythropappus, produced in different substrate formulations. For each species, an experiment was installed and conducted, using composted rice husk, composted coffee husk, coconut fiber and commercial substrate in the formulations. The experiments were installed in a completely randomized design (DIC), consisting of eight treatments, five replications and 20 seedlings per plot. To evaluate the quality of seedlings, at 120 days the variables height, stem diameter, dry matter weight of the aerial part, dry matter weight of the root system and Dickson's quality index were measured. As qualitative analyzes, the ease of removing seedlings from the tube and the aggregation of roots to the substrate were evaluated. The results found after the evaluation attested that the seedlings produced in the treatments formulated with composted coffee husk presented higher values for most of the analyzed variables, when compared with the seedlings produced in the treatments formulated with the rice husk and in the control. For the three species, the use of the proportion of 40% of coffee husk composted with 40% of commercial substrate and 20% of coconut fiber for the composition of the substrate is indicated.

Keywords:
Initial growth; Organic compound; Alternative materials; Plant propagation