Biostimulant and Micronutrient Applications in the Production of Acacia mangium Seedlings
Nathália Ferreira Alves
Progress of Forestry Engineering Course, UFMS, Chapadão do Sul Campus, P.O.Box 112, Brazil.
Sebastião Ferreira de Lima *
Docentes dos Cursos de Agronomia e Engenharia Florestal, UFMS, Campus Chapadão do Sul, Caixa Postal, 112, Brazil.
Ana Paula Leite de Lima
Docentes dos Cursos de Agronomia e Engenharia Florestal, UFMS, Campus Chapadão do Sul, Caixa Postal, 112, Brazil.
Catia Aparecida Simon
Department of Soil Science, Esalq / USP, Piracicaba, SP, Brazil.
Pedro Paulo Virgilio Damis
Department of Agronomy, UFMS, Chapadão do Sul campus, P.O.Box 112, Brazil.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Aims: Evaluate the effects of applying biostimulant and micronutrients on Acacia mangium Willd seedlings.
Study Design: A randomized complete block design was used in a 2x5 factorial scheme, with four replications.
Place and Duration of Study: The experiment was conducted at the Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso do Sul, at the Chapadão do Sul Campus, MS, with the geographical coordinates 18º46’ 44” S and 52º36’ 49” W, in a nursery area from October 2015 to January 2016.
Methodology: The treatments consisted of a combination of the presence or absence of a solution containing micronutrients and five doses of biostimulant (0, 7.5, 15.0, 22.5, and 30.0 mL per L of water). The commercial product Stimulate™ was used as the biostimulant, and the micronutrient solution was prepared at the concentration of 1.0%. The micronutrients in the solution were in the following formulations: ZnS04, H3BO3 and CuS04. The seeds were sown in tubes containing the commercial substrate Carolina Soil do Brasil, together with the use of Osmocote Plus™ fertilizer.
Results: The use of biostimulant associated with micronutrients favored the rate of emergency speed. The doses of 24.8, 14.0 and 26.1 mL L-1 of biostimulant water provided the highest values for leaf area, plant height and total dry mass, respectively, when associated with the use of micronutrients. The height / diameter ratio decreased with increasing doses of biostimulant, while the Dicson quality index increased in the same condition.
Conclusion: The use of micronutrients and biostimulants were favourable for the production of A. mangium seedlings. Only the height/diameter ratio (HDR) reduced for all biostimulant doses.
Keywords: StimulatTM, forest nutrition, phytoregulators, seedling fertilizatione