Abstract
Abstract The zinnia (Zinnia elegans Jacq.) is an ornamental plant used in landscape composition and presents great potential for cultivation as a cut flower, potted. Faced with the new trend of integrated flower production, that proposes more environmentally friendly practices aiming at sustainability, there is a need to determine alternative substrates that allow the production of quality seedlings. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the vigor and quality of zinnia seedlings produced in alternative substrates in trays with different cell size. Two different types of trays of expanded polystyrene with different cell size were tested as following: 128-cell and 200-cell trays with a volume of 40 cm3 and 16 cm3, respectively. For the growth of the seedlings, three types of substrate were tested: commercial substrate; composting of organic waste; mixture of sand, soil and carbonized rice husk in the proportion of 1:1:1 (v:v:v). The experiment was a completely randomized design, using 24 trays in a factorial arrangement 3x2 (substrate x tray cell size), with four replicate and eight seedling per replicate. The phytotechnical characteristics evaluated were plant height, number of leaves, root length and dry weight of plants, the vigor of seedlings and clod stability was determined by rating scales. The physicochemical and physical proprieties of organic substrate enables produce high quality seedling using 128-cell trays, but the 200-cell trays also produce good quality seedling, having the advantage of using smaller volumes of substrates.
Highlights
The zinnia (Zinnia elegans Jacq.) is a species of the Asteraceae family used in landscape composition and presents great potential for cultivation as cut flower or potted plants (Iqbal et al, 2012; Ahmad et al, 2015)
The great advantage of using these residues can be highlighted as the formulation of an alternative mix of substrates implying on lower production costs, reducing the environmental impact erstwhile produced by the discard of these materials (Sousa et al, 2011)
Characterization of physicochemical and physical properties of the substrates used in the production of the Zinnia seedlings, presented in Table 1, reveal the occurrence of statistical differences between the substrates for all evaluated parameters
Summary
The zinnia (Zinnia elegans Jacq.) is a species of the Asteraceae family used in landscape composition and presents great potential for cultivation as cut flower or potted plants (Iqbal et al, 2012; Ahmad et al, 2015). Zinnia plants have been cultivated in Integrated Agroecological Production Systems, known as “Fazendinha Agroecológica” located Seropédica- RJ, with the objective of attracting pollinating insects or natural enemies to increase ecological diversity in organic agricultural systems. The production of zinnia seedlings for agroecological system, whether for the landscape composition, as a cut flower or for the attractive plants, must obey the rules for Brazilian agroecological production, and the use of organic substrates (Brasil, 2011). The great advantage of using these residues can be highlighted as the formulation of an alternative mix of substrates implying on lower production costs, reducing the environmental impact erstwhile produced by the discard of these materials (Sousa et al, 2011)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
