Use of organic substrates on the production of ‘Formosa’ papaya seedlings

Abstract

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of different organic substrates onthe primary seedling growth characteristics of ‘Formosa’ papaya. The experiment was conducted in a randomized block design with four treatments and five replications. The treatments were: soil, organic compost of poultry litter, earthworm castings and cattle manure. The earthworm castings provided the highest values​​of leaf number, plant height, stem diameter, leaf area, stem dry weight, root drymass and leaf dry weight. Therefore, it can be the most viable substrate for the production of papaya seedlings, depending of its local availability. However, there were no significant differences between this substrate and that consisting on organic compound for the last three parameters. The cattle manure did not differ from the control treatment regarding to leaf number, stem diameter, stem dry mass, leaf dry weight, root length and leaf area. The earthworm castings provided the higher values to the‘Formosa’ papaya seedlings grow.