Production of papaya seedlings using different substrates with cattle manure and recipients volumes

Abstract

The substrate and volumes of recipients are important in the formation of seedlings and must provide adequate conditions for germination and growth  of the root system. This work was carried out in a seedling production greenhouse at Universidade Estadual da Paraiba (UEPB), Campus IV, aiming to evaluate the viability of different substrates and recipients in the development of ‘Sunrise Solo’ papaya tree seedlings. A completely randomized design was used with ten treatments composed by a 5 x 2 factorial scheme, with 5 substrates with soil and bovine manure doses (0%, 20%, 40%, 60%, 80% v/v) and two volumes (1 L and 2 L), with three replications totaling thirty experimental units, with one plant per plot. The variables evaluated 63 days after sowing were seedling height (cm), stem diameter (mm), number of leaves per plant, shoot (g), root (g) and total dry matter (g), and root/shoot relation (g g^-1). Data showed that the 20% soil and 80% bovine manure mixture cultivated in polyethylene bags with capacity of 2L of substrate induced the highest growth and dry matter production of papaya tree seedlings.