Accumulation of nutrients in sweet peppers cultivated in coconut fiber

Abstract

The production of sweet peppers in greenhouse has been severely affected by soil pathogens. With this, producers are adopting new cultivation techniques, such as cultivation in substrates, but information about this type of cultivation are still scarce. The aim of the present work was to evaluate nutrient accumulation in sweet peppers cultivated in coconut fiber with fertirrigation in greenhouse. Initially, 160 plants (Eppo cultivar) were divided into four blocks, where two plants per block were analyzed every 21 days after transplanting. The sweet peppers were cultivated in plastic pots of 13 L, containing coconut fiber, and placed in double rows with spacing of 0.5 x 0.8 m between single rows and 1.10 m between double rows. The commercial production of the mature fruits was estimated to be 97.3 t ha -1, where all the production was classified as Extra (maximum quality). The accumulation of the various determined nutrients were: 8.22 g plant -1 of N, 1.14 g plant -1 of P, 7.84 g plant -1 of K, 3.25 g plant -1 of Ca, 1.34 g plant -1 of Mg, 2.24 g plant -1 of S, 16.65 mg plant -1 of B, 3.36 mg plant -1 of Cu, 45.98 mg plant -1 of Fe, 34.78 mg plant -1 of Mn and 22.28 mg plant -1 of Zn.