Optimum Level of Nitrogen and Phosphorus to Achieve Better Papaya (Carica papaya var. Solo) Seedlings Growth and Mycorrhizal Colonization |
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| Authors: | Andre Freire Cruz Bruno Ferreira de Oliveira Marcio de Carvalho Pires |
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| Institution: | 1. Graduate School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Kyoto Prefectural University, Kyoto, Japan;2. Departamento de Fitopatologia, Universidade de Brasília, Brasília, Brazil;3. Faculdade de Agronomia e Medicina Veterinária, Universidade de Brasília, Brasília, Brazil |
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| Abstract: | An experiment under greenhouse conditions was carried out to evaluate the best level of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P), which promote the growth of papaya (Carica papaya L. var. Solo) seedlings without affecting the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) activity. Seedlings of papaya were transplanted to pots inoculated or not with Gigaspora margarita spores at four levels of N (0, 50, 100, and 200 ppm) and P (0, 25, 50, and 100 ppm). P was amended at the same time of pot filling up with substrate but N was applied weekly. The experiment was harvested after 100 days and plant dry weight together with AMF colonization was measured. The major response on the plant dry weight and height was from the fertilizers (N and P) where it proportionally increased. For the dry weight, at low amounts of nutrients the effects of AMF were greater, but as much as the fertilizer level in soil increased this response decreased. The colonization decreased as the nutrient levels increased, especially the P. The best combination of N and P for plant growth and AMF colonization could be at 50 and 25 ppm, equivalent to 5 and 2.5 kg/10a, respectively. |
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| Keywords: | Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi fertilizer fruit plant nutrition |
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