Evaluación de fórmulas de sustratos alternativos en la germinación de semillas de brócoli (Brassica oleracea var.italica)

Abstract

Seed health is a vital factor for successful agricultural production to prevent the spread of different pathogens. Likewise, soil suppression is very important to help seed germination, and it is necessary to have a large number of beneficial microorganisms. Therefore, the use of a good substrate is one of the key points to ensure healthy and vigorous seedlings. In this sense, in the present research, different substrate formulas for broccoli seed germination were evaluated, where different percentages of Azolla enriched with zeolite and humic acids were evaluated on plant height, germination percentage, leaves per plant, root volume and percentage of useful plants. The following proportions were used: S1 (Azolla 70% + zeolite 30%), S2 (Azolla 69.5% + zeolite 29.5 % + humic acids 1.0%), S3 (Azolla 69% + zeolite 29 % + humic acids 2%), S4 (Azolla 68.5% + zeolite 28.5 % + humic acids 3.0%) and it was compared with a commercial substrate, S5 based on Sphagnum peat. The effect of the different substrates was observed where significant differences were observed between them. The greatest plant height was obtained with the substrate composed of 68.5% Azolla, 28.5% zeolite and 3.0% humic acids, with which the plants reached 2.52 cm and 3.2 cm at 15 and 30 days, respectively. Likewise, the number of leaves per plant (3.13 leaves), root volume (0.45 ml), germination percentage (95.70%) and useful plants (92.67%) were observed with the same substrate, whose values were significantly equal to those obtained with the commercial substrate. Although the costs for obtaining the different substrates did not show significant differences, the use of substrates based on Azolla enriched with zeolite and humic acids is suggested, since these are products that are easily available in the area.