Evaluación de sustratos con la adición de ácidos húmicos para la producción de plántulas de tomate (Solanum lycopersicum) var. pietro

Abstract

With the continuous use of commonly used substrates, the low germination rate of seeds and low-quality seedlings has become present, therefore, these seedlings will not be available for sale, affecting the producers of this sector. In this experiment, six treatments and two controls were evaluated, the treatments consisted of organic substrates (peat and coconut fiber) plus the incorporation of humic acid in three different doses (2%, 4% and 6%), proportions that adjust to 100% of the total volume of the substrate, the two controls were composed entirely of peat and coconut fiber, respectively. An experimental design of completely randomized blocks (DBCA) was used, with 6 treatments and 4 replicates plus 2 controls. An analysis of variance (ANAVAR) and Tukey's significance test at 5% were applied for the comparison between treatments, and comparison between peat substrate and coconut fiber substrate. The treatment prepared with 98% peat + 2% humic acid showed the best results in the variables analyzed. For plant height at 35 days reached 7.57 cm, the stem diameter was greater among all treatments, as in the one reported at 35 days (2.13 mm). Likewise, the root volume of the seedlings of this treatment obtained a more significant result (2.24 cc), also standing out in the development of leaf area (12.21 cm2). Similarly, the cost of production per treatment and per seedling was 0.12 US cents, a value shared by all treatments. This cost was directly influenced by the number of seedlings obtained, which in turn is related to the germination percentage of each treatment.