Effect of substrate, pericarp and pre-germinative treatments on ponytail seedling emergence

Abstract

On account of its structural appearance, the ponytail tree (Beaucarnea recurvata Lem. – Ruscaceae) is a specie of economic potential requiring studies that aim a maximization on its production. This work evaluated the effect of different substrates, pericarp and pregerminative treatments on seedling emergence in two distinct experiments. In the first experiment, seeds with or without pericarp and stored for 120 days at environmental conditions were sowed in substrates consisting of: 1- Oxisol (Typic Haplustox) (LVD); 2- thick sand (AG); 3- 1/3 of LVD + 1/3 of AG + 1/3 of dust charcoal (MC). It was used a completely randomized experimental design and the treatments were arranged in a 2 x 3 factorial with four replicates of 25 seeds. The highest values of percentage (%E) and speed index (IVE) emergence were obtained from the sowing of seeds without pericarp and the %E, IVE, total dry matter (MS) and stem diameter (DC) highest values were observed in the plants cultivated in substrate composed by LVD+AG+MC. In the second experiment, seeds with pericarp and stored for one year under environmental conditions had their pericarp removed and they had the followings pre-germinative treatments: im­mersion in natural water for 12, 24, 36, 48, 72 and 96 hours and in biostimulant for 5 minutes in the volumes of 40, 80 and 120 mL seed kg-1. It was used the completely randomized design with four replications of 25 seeds and the sowing was realized in thick sand. It was not observed effect of pre-germinative treatments on %E and the IVE highest values were observed when it was used seed immersion in water during 96 hours