EMERGÊNCIA DE SEMENTES E DESENVOLVIMENTO DE MUDAS DE ALFACE EM DIFERENTES SUBSTRATOS

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: The production of lettuce seedlings is one of the most important steps in the production system. The substrate used in the production of lettuce seedlings plays a key role, and the quality depends on its physical structure and chemical composition. OBJECTIVE: Evaluate the effects of different substrates on germination and development of Verônica variety lettuce seedlings. METHODS: The experiment was carried out in Seedling Nursery Vale Verde, located in the municipality of Patrocínio, state Minas Gerais, Brazil, average altitude of 945 meters, geographic coordinates 18°54'14.4" south latitude and 46°59'40.9" west longitude. For this experiment, polystyrene trays were used. The experimental design was completely randomized, in a factorial scheme 3 x 1 x 7, and 28 seeds per plot, being considered for evaluation 12 seedlings of each plot. The substrates used were: phenolic foam, coconut fiber and compost. Data were subjected to analysis of variance and, subsequently, the means of treatments were subjected to multiple comparison analysis, by Tukey's test. RESULTS: There was a highly significant difference for emergence speed index, root size, leaf size, and significant difference for number of leaves. Germination, dry mass and green mass, on the other hand, did not show any significant difference. CONCLUSION: The phenolic foam substrate provided greater speed of emergence. The new world composite and coconut fiber substrate features a greater number of leaves and root size. The largest leaves and consequently the accumulation of green mass and dry mass were obtained in seedlings cultivated in the coconut fiber substrate. KEYWORDS: : emergency; hardwood; source; transplant; nursery.