Growth, nutrition and health of coffee seedlings grown with increasing limestone doses in the substrate

Abstract

During coffee crop formation, seedlings quality is an essential factor to ensure the plants full development. Applying limestone to the substrate is a common practice to correct acidity, thus increasing nutrient availability. Therefore, we aimed to evaluate the effect of increasing limestone doses in the substrate regarding growth, nutrition, health, and quality of coffee seedlings. The experiment was conducted in the plant nursery at the IFSULDEMINAS – Inconfidentes Campus, with an experimental design in randomized blocks with five replications; the treatments received the following limestone doses per cubic meter of substrate: T1: 0 g; T2: 600 g; T3: 1,200 g; T4: 1,800 g; T5: 3,000 g. After 208 days of sowing, samples were collected for leaf analysis. The growth and quality of the seedlings and their incidence and severity of Cercospora were also evaluated. A statistical difference was found in leaf analysis for nitrogen, potassium, and manganese absorption, with no statistical difference for Cercospora coffeicola leaf spots  in all treatments. Therefore, the increasing limestone doses do not influence growth, nutrition, and health of the coffee seedlings of the Mundo Novo 376/4 cultivar.