Germination and Initial Growth Performance of Anadenanthera macrocarpa (Benth.) in Different Substrates

Abstract

Seed germination is considered the crucial phase in the establishment and development of plants. Knowledge about the appropriate conditions for seed germination is of fundamental importance, mainly due to the influence and different responses that they can present depending on several factors such as seed viability, light, water, oxygen, temperature, and substrate, among others. Therefore, the main objective of the work was to evaluate the germination and the initial development of the A. macrocarpa in the function of different substrates. The experimental design adopted was completely randomized, where six different substrates were used in four replications. The treatments consisted of S1 (Commercial Substrate); S2 (Washed Sand); S3 (Commercial Substrate 50% + Vermiculite 50%); S4 (Commercial substrate 50% + Rice straw 25% + Pine bark powder 25%); S5 (Black Soil); S6 (Black Soil 75% + Sawdust 25%). The evaluated characteristics were germination percentage (%), emergence speed index, shoot and root length (cm), shoot and root fresh mass (gram), and shoot and root dry mass (gram). The use of commercial substrate + vermiculite stood out for most of the analyzed characteristics, being germination (78.57%), aerial part fresh mass (0.1187g), root fresh mass (0.0263g), aerial part dry mass (0.0689g) and root dry mass (0.0149g). The lowest averages observed for all characteristics were with the use of black soil substrate.