Effects of poultry litter concentration and substrate source on the development of Mangifera indica L. ‘coquinho’

Abstract

We conducted two experiments to evaluate the growth of mango (Mangifera indica L., CV Coquinho) rootstock in different substrates and determine the optimal concentration of poultry litter amendments to the soil in combination with seeds with or without an endocarp endocarp. The following factors were studied in the first experiment: substrate source: soil, soil + poultry litter (at 25%) and a commercial substrate. In the second experiment, we studied poultry litter amendments at 0% (just soil), 20% and 40%. Both experiments evaluated the presence or absence of the seed endocarp on: plant height, stem diameter (tree base) and leaf count at 60, 75, 90, 105 and 120 days after sowing (DAS). After conducting field measurements, we evaluated fresh shoot weight (FW) and then dry shoot weight (DW) after drying at 65°C. No significant differences among the substrate sources or concentrations of poultry litter amendments relative to rootstock development. However, rootstock produced from seeds with no endocarps outperformed all other treatments.