Initial growth of coffee plants associated with the use of kaolinite and adjuvant

Abstract

Abiotic stresses cause significant damage to coffee plants’ development. Seeking solutions to mitigate them, studies about antiperspirant action have been intensified, for instance, kaolinite, which produces a film of particles with reflexive properties. In this context, this experiment aims to evaluate the effects of applying kaolinite doses in different colors with or without the addition of adjuvant on biometric variables during coffee plants’ initial growth. The randomized block design was used with three repetitions in an incomplete factorial scheme with an additional treatment, resulting in 11 treatments and 33 plots. The first factor comprised three kaolinite doses (20, 40, and 60 g); the second factor had two kaolinite colors (white and cream), and the third factor was the absence or presence of an adjuvant, also including an additional treatment (control). The plot consisted of four seedlings of the cultivar IPR 100. It was observed that the plant height (PH), number of plagiotropic branches (NPB), leaf area index (LAI), leaf dry matter (LDM), shoot dry matter (SHDM), root dry matter (RDM), and total dry matter (TDM) presented significant differences. Regarding PH, the dose of 40 g of cream kaolinite increased 7.07 cm more than the control. For LAI, the dose of 40 g with adjuvant had a 97.65 increase. For LDM and TDM, the dose of 40 g of white kaolinite with adjuvant presented respective increases of 5.2 and 12.78 g. The application of white kaolinite with adjuvant increased SHDM by 4.52 g. For RDM, the dose of 40 g of white kaolinite with adjuvant increased 6.51 g more than the control. The dose of 40 g of white kaolinite with adjuvant had a higher effect on the biometric variables. Key words: Antiperspirant; biomass; Coffea arabica L.; thermal stress; particles’ film.