Resíduo de caldeira como substrato alternativo à produção de mudas de meloeiro Cantaloupe

Abstract

The aim of this work was to evaluate the boiler residue as an alternative substrate for the production of Cantaloupe melon seedlings. The experiment was carried out in a randomized block, the treatments being composed of two different substrates (100% boiler residue and 100% substrate) and three mixtures of these in the proportions 75/25, 50/50 and 25/75, composing the five treatments. For the composition of the results, the emergence rate, the mean emergency time and the emergency speed index were evaluated during the emergency phase and after 30 days of sowing, the contents of chlorophyll a, b and total, leaf area, height aerial part, number of leaves, root length, shoot dry mass, root and total, and Dickson quality index. For Cantaloupe melon, it was obtained that the boiler residue provided significant increases in the biometric characteristics of the seedlings, high contents of chlorophylls and dry mass of shoot and root. The boiler residue has the potential to partially or completely replace the commercial substrate in the production of melon seedlings.