Abstract
ABSTRACT Studies on the use of agricultural residues as an alternative to commercial substrates have become fundamental tominimising the risk of environmental contamination resulting from inadequate disposal, as well as reducing seedling production costs. This research involved an evaluation of growth variables and quality of cucumber seedlings produced in substrates with different compositions of agricultural waste with a view to providing substitutes for commercial substrate. The experiment was based on a completely randomised design, with six treatments and ten replicates. There were five treatments with increasing proportions of moinha/decreasing proportions of carbonized rice husk (0/40, 10/30, 20/20, 30/10 and 40/0%) and fixed proportions of coconut fibre (15%), eggshell (5%), pine bark (40%), and one commercial substrate treatment as the control (Bioplant®). The variables evaluated were: electrical conductivity of the substrate, plant height, stem diameter, number of leaves, Dickson quality index (DQI) and dry matter of roots and above ground parts. Results show that alternative substrates can replace commercial substrate without impairing the quality of cucumber seedlings. However, the substrate containing 40% of moinha, 0% of rice husk, 15% of coconut fibre, 5% of eggshell and 40% of pine bark resulted in the highest values for all evaluated variables and appears to be the most promising alternative substrate for the production of cucumber seedlings.
Highlights
In recent years, cucumber (Cucumis sativus) has become one of the fruit vegetables attracting the greatest commercial interest in Brazil
Especially those obtained for Dickson Quality Index (DQI), show that treatments with alternative substrates can replace commercial treatment without impairing the quality of cucumber seedlings
The use of the substrate containing the highest proportion of moinha and lowest rice husk content (40:0%) becomes the most promising substitute for the commercial substrate, due to the greater availability of moinha in the central mountain region of Espírito Santo state, in addition to the low acquisition cost
Summary
Cucumber (Cucumis sativus) has become one of the fruit vegetables attracting the greatest commercial interest in Brazil. Within the production chain of fruit and vegetables, a decisive factor for obtaining quality seedlings is the type of substrate used. In the production of cucumber seedlings, commercial substrates are widely used. These substrates represent an additional cost in the production stage of seedlings. According to Silva et al (2014), as most plant cultivation in Brazil is carried out on a small scale by family farmers, the cost of substrates leads to decreased profitability of the investment, prompting the need to seek new alternative sources of substrate
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