PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF RENEWABLE SUBSTRATES

The pressing need to increase the number of seedlings planted annually, as well as the increasing reduction in the availability of traditional raw materials for the composition of substrates have led to a need to develop studies aimed at evaluating and providing new materials for its composition, technical and economically efficient. In this view, the present study aimed to analyze the physical and chemical properties of substrates formulated based on renewable materials and high-availability (coconut fiber, rice hulls at different grain sizes, sludge and pine bark semidecomposta). For this, we formulated 41 substrates, which had their physical and chemical properties evaluated. Based on these results, we concluded that, by its physical and chemical properties, a number of renewable materials and agro-industrial and human waste, or is suitable for use as components in the preparation of substrates for production of forest seedlings, although content of some nutrients in certain substrates should be adjusted via basic fertilization. In view of the physical properties are more decisive in the choice of a particular formulation of substrate, because of its greater difficulty in relation to chemical changes after being in production vessels, among the evaluated components and mixtures can be concluded that the substrates formulated based coconut fiber and rice hulls have been more appropriate.