Shade intensity and substrate formulation affect the quality of seedlings of Cordia trichotoma

ABSTRACT

Cordia trichotoma is a native species with economic potential due to its wood quality. However, knowledge regarding the production of quality seedlings of the species is still incipient. Thus, the objective was to evaluate the use of agricultural residues as a substrate compound and the shading intensities in the nursery phase for Cordia trichotoma seedlings production. Five substrate compositions were tested: S1 (80% CF-coconut fiber- and 20% CCC-carbonized coffee husks); S2 (60% FC and 40% CCC); S3 (80% FC and 20% CAC-carbonized rice husk); S4 (60% FC and 40% CAC); S5 (100% commercial substrate). Also, we tested four different shading levels: 0%; 30%; 50%;80%. The experiment was in a factorial design with a completely randomized design. At 180 days, we measured seedling height, stem diameter, shoot dry mass, and root system dry mass and calculated the robustness index and Dickson Quality Index. We observed that carbonized husks provided lower growth than the use of a commercial substrate in all analyzed variables. Furthermore, shading provided negative quadratic growth in the analyzed variables. Thus, it is recommended the use of commercial substrate and shading of 50% in seedlings of Cordia trichotoma

Keywords
Louro-pardo; Carbonized coffee husk; Renewable substrate; Native species