Grápia (Apuleia leiocarpa Vog. Macbride) is a native forest specie that has been in extinction process. The purpose of this study was to characterize the nutritional requirements of grápia in a red yellow podzolic soil by using the lacking nutrient technique. Grápia plants were cultivated in pots containing soil, under glasshouse conditions. Eighteen treatments were tested in a fatorial design (2 X 9). The factors consisted of two profiles of the same soil (A and B) and nine fertilization treatments. The fertilization treatments were: (1) natural soil, (2) complete fertilization with macro and micronutrients (complete), (3) complete less N, (4) complete less P, (5) complete less K, (6) complete less Ca, (7) complete less Mg, (8) complete less S, and (9) complete less the micronutrients Zn, Cu, Fe, Mn, B and Mo. After 165 days of cultivation the growth parameters analysed were dry weight of roots and aerial part, relationship between dry weight of root and aerial part, number of leaves, total lenght of the root system, shoot diameter, height of the plant, number of shoot nodes, and the concentration of N, P, K, Ca, Mg, Zn, Cu, Mn and Fe in the plants parts. The isolated omission of Ca, Mg, and of the micronutrients Zn, Cu, Fe and Mn from the fertilization do not affect the growth of grápia in height, shoot diameter, number of shoot nodes, number of leaves, and biomass accumulation, as well as the nutrient concentration in the plant tissues, indicating that the natural nutrient levels are adequate. The height of the plant, number of shoot nodes, number of leaves, total lenght of the root system, biomass accumulation and the nutrient concentration decrease strikingly by omitting P, S, N and K from the fertilization, for both profiles of the soil.
grápia; mineral nutrition; fertilization; Apuleia leiocarpa; nutrient absence; red yellow podzolic
