Organic compound in the substrate of seedlings of interest in forest restoration of the Atlantic Forest

Abstract

The substrate plays a fundamental technical and economic role in the production of forest seedlings.
This study evaluated seedling growth in response to the addition of the organic compound Provaso® to the
substrate. The experiment was conducted at the IFMG– São João Evangelista forest nursery, in a randomized block
design, with four replicates, two native species (Sesbania virgata and Acnistus arborescens) and five proportions
of the compound (0, 25, 50, 75, and 100%). Direct seeding was carried out in plastic tubes (180 cm³). At 180 days
after sowing, total height, stem diameter, Ht/Dc ratio, shoot and root dry weights, as well as surface area and root
volume obtained by scanning, were measured. The data were subjected to analysis of variance and Tukey's test
(5%). A quadratic function was also adjusted to estimate height as a function of compost doses, calculating the
height of maximum economic efficiency (90% of maximum height). Compost addition promoted greater growth of
Sesbania virgata and Acnistus arborescens and the heights of maximum economic efficiency for these species were
54.9 cm and 24.1 cm, obtained with 35.7% and 33.5% of organic compost, respectively.