Growth of Copaifera Langsdorffii seedlings in different conditions on the substrate

Abstract

The demand for seedlings of native forest species for reforestation helps in favor of the need for scale production, since technical techniques for producing native seedlings with quality are incipient, especially when it comes to silvicultural methods such as irrigation, fertilization and substrate preparation. The objective of the work was to evaluate the development of Copaifera langsdorffii Desf. seedlings, under different conditions in the substrate. The treatments were: control, commercial substrate; adding hydrogel to the substrate; use of controlled release fertilization; and addition of hydrogel and use of controlled release fertilization. After 150 days after sowing, the biometric characteristics of shoot height, neck diameter, root length, shoot dry weight, root and total, and quality indexes were measured. Individually, controlled fertilization provided greater height of the aerial part, diameter of the neck and quality indexes, however it was similar to the control in some cases. The addition of hydrogel together with controlled fertilization increased the total dry mass of the seedlings. In general, the addition of hydrogel to the commercial substrate showed unsatisfactory results in the development of Copaíba seedlings.