Polímero hidro retentor no crescimento inicial de cafeeiros irrigados

Abstract

This work was conducted with the objective of evaluating the use of the hydro retainer polymer in the initial development of coffee in soils of sandy, medium and clayey texture, in different levels of irrigation and types of seedling recipients. The experiments were installed in a greenhouse in the Coffee culture sector in UFLA. Two experiments were assembled in a randomized blocks design. Experiment A in a 4 x 2 x 2 factorial scheme, with three replicates and a total of 48 plots. It consisted of four levels of irrigation (25%, 50%, 75% and 100% of soil humidity) and two types of soil texture (medium and sandy), with and without the hydro retainer polymer, in seedlings cultivated in bags. After 150 days, we measured the SD, PH, LA, LN, DMS, DWPL, DMR, DMR DMS-1, LAR, AGR, RGR, NAR and LAI. Experiment B was assembled in sub-sub-plots with clayey texture, using four irrigation levels (25%, 50%, 75% and 100% of soil humidity), and two types of seedlings recipients (bag and tubes) in the sub-sub-plot, with and without the hydro retainer polymer. The assessments were performed each 60 days for a year. We measured the SD, PH, LA, LN and NPB. In both experiments, in the treatments using the polymer, we applied 1.5 kg of the polymer in 400 liters of water, using a dosage of 1.5 L of solution per plant. The hydrated hydro retainer polymer promotes greater plant growth and potentialized the use of irrigation. Irrigation promotes higher initial growth of coffee plants in medium-textured soils when compared to soils with sandy texture. Seedlings grown in bags presented higher initial growth than those grown in tubes.