Dry matter production and nutrient accumulation after successive crops of lettuce, tomato, rice, and andropogongrass in a substrate with zeolite

• Autor(a) principal: Bernardi,Alberto C. de Campos
• Data de Publicação: 2010
• Outros Autores: Monte,Marisa Bezerra de Mello, Paiva,Paulo Renato Perdigão, Werneck,Carlos Guarino, Haim,Patrick Gesualdi, Barros,Fernando de Souza
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Revista Brasileira de Ciência do Solo (Online)
• Texto Completo: http://old.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0100-06832010000200017
• topic: stilbite; Lactuca sativa; Lycopersicum esculentum; Oryza sativa; Andropogon gayanus; slow-release fertilizer; growth substrate

Zeolites are hydrated crystalline aluminosilicate minerals of natural occurrence, structured in rigid third dimension net that can be used as slow release plant-nutrient source. The main objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of plant growth substrate under zeolite application, enriched with N, P and K, on dry matter yield and on nutrient contents in consecutive crops of lettuce, tomato, rice, and andropogon grass. The experiment was carried out in a greenhouse, with 3 kg pots with an inert substrate, evaluated in a randomized block design with three replications. Treatments consisted of four types of enrichment of concentrated natural zeolite: concentrated zeolite (Z) only, zeolite + KNO3 (ZNK), zeolite + K2HPO4 (ZPK) and zeolite + H3PO4 + apatite (ZP), and a control grown in substrate fertilized with a zeolite-free nutrient solution. Four levels of enriched zeolite were tested: 20, 40, 80, and 160 g/pot. Four successive crops were grown on the same substrate in each pot: lettuce, tomato, rice, and andropogon grass. Results indicated that N, P and K enriched zeolite was an adequate slow-release nutrient source for plants. The total dry matter production of above-ground biomass of four successive crops followed a descending order: ZP > ZPK > ZNK > Z.