Fertilization with N, P and K in the initial growth of the ‘Rangpur’ Lime rootstocks

Abstract

This experiment aimed to evaluate the effect of N, P and K on the growth of ‘Ranpur’ lime rootstocks, as an experimental factorial design 33 + 1, with 3 factors (NPK) and 3 doses, with 3 replicates, totalizing 84 experimental units for each essay. Each replicate was composed by two plants. The experiment was carried out during four months, after the plant emergence. The pattern doses of N, K and P were 920, 790 and 100 mg dm^-3, respectively. The  treatments were as follows: a half, once and twice the pattern doses, beside the control (without fertilization). The fertilization with N and K was divided into 30 applications, in each experimental unit, during 4 months of the seedling growth before the second week after plant emergence. At each 15 days, measurements of the rootstocks diameter were performed. At 120 days after plant emergence, the growth variables (diameter, height, foliar area, dry mass of shoot area, dry mass of the roots and total dry mass) were evaluated. The applications of N, P and K affected the growth of ‘Rangpur’ lime tree rootstock. The greatest growth of ‘Rangpur’ plants is associated to the N, P, K doses of 1,840, 98 and 870 mg dm^-3, respectively.