Production of 'Aliança' papaya seedlings under different dosages and sources of Lithothamnion sp

Elmo Pereira Ramos^1*Diego Borges de Aguiar¹Ana Kelly Mota Barbosa¹Vinicius de Souza Oliveira^1*Lúcio de Oliveira Arantes¹Edilson Romais Schmildt²Antelmo Ralph Falqueto²Sara Dousseau-Arantes^1*

• ¹Capixaba Institute for Research, Technical Assistance and Rural Extension (INCAPER), Vitória, Brazil
• ²Federal University of Espírito Santo, São Mateus - ES, Brazil

The production of papaya seedlings is one of the main steps for establishing crops that present maximum quality performance. Nutritional availability is one of the factors limiting the formation process of quality seedlings, and fertilization is often done without technical criteria. Thus, the objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of different doses of Lithothamnion sp., obtained from different sources, on the development and growth of 'Aliança' papaya seedlings. The study was developed at the Experimental Farm of the Capixaba Institute of Research, Technical Assistance, and Rural Extension, in the municipality of Linhares, north of the state of Espírito Santo. The experimental design used was randomized blocks in a factorial scheme, where the first factor was composed of three commercial sources of Lithothamnion sp. (LT Supra ® ; Algen ® and Primaz ® ). The second factor was composed of six different doses, namely: 0; 2; 4; 6; 8; and 10 kg m -3 of Lithothamnion sp. At 37 days after sowing, the seedlings were evaluated for the following characteristics: germination percentage; leaf area; stem length; stem mass fraction; root length; stem diameter; leaf dry mass; stem dry mass; root dry mass; and total dry mass. The accumulation of nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium, and sulfur in the leaves and roots was also evaluated. Lithothamnion sp. promoted better growth and development in 'Aliança' papaya seedlings, with a dosage close to 4 kg m -3 and the LT supra ® product being the most recommended.