Green coconut coir fiber, an alternative substrate to eggplant seedling

Abstract

This study aimed to evaluate the coconut fiber powder as medium substrate on the production of eggplant seedling. The experiment was conducted in forty days under greenhouse conditions. It was used seeds of the Florida Market cv., which were cultivated in polyetilene strays with 54 cells and irrigated with nutritive solution two times per day. The used substrates were: dust and fiber green coconut coir fibre, in the proportions of 100% of dust, 75% of dust + 25% of fiber and 50% of dust + 50% of fiber, washed and not washed; dry coconut coir fibre not washed; rind of green coconut grinded (fiber and dust mix from machine) washed and not washed (fiber and dust mix from machine); commercial substrate not fertilized and control (green coconut coir fibre not washed and not fertilized). It was used a complete randomized block design with eleven treatments and four replications, with 25 plants per replications. The characteristics evaluated were emergency seedlings rate, plant height and dry matter weight of the plant upper parts. The best results were observed for the seedlings grown in dry coconut coir fibre not washed, followed by commercial substrate and green coconut coir fibre washed.