Determinação da máxima capacidade de retenção de água no substrato para produção de mudas de eucalipto em viveiro

Abstract

Determination of maximum capacity of water retention in substrate for production plants in Eucalyptus nursery. The scarcity of information regarding water consumption of seedlings of forest species often complicates the planning of irrigation in commercial nurseries, often leading the adoption of inefficient management measures, causing loss in the quality of seedlings. Thus, this study sought to investigate the capacity of water retention in the substrate in which the eucalyptus seedlings can be submitted and determine the crop coefficient (Kc) for the hybrid clone of E. urophylla x E . grandis. The study was conducted in a greenhouse located in the experimental area of the Post-Graduation of Forest Sciences bound to the Center for Agrarian Sciences, Federal University of Espírito Santo in the city of Alegre, ES, built in a completely randomized design with five treatments of water availability in the substrate (90, 80, 70, 60 and 50[%] of MCRA) and four replications. According to the results, it was found that water availability in the substrate MCRA of the 70[%] can be used for the production of minicutting, without affecting standards of growth and quality. The Kc for eucalyptus seedlings in nursery conditions was 1.25.