Nitrogen and potassium fertilization of Aster ericoides cultivated in greenhouse

The Aster ericoides is a cut flower crop recently introduced into Brazil. It has great production potential and acceptation by consumer market but exist little information about fertilization management, essential to its development and quality. In this work we evaluated the nitrogen and potassium fertilization on dry matter yield and nutrient absorption by Aster ericoides (White Master) growing in a Typic Hapludox soil under greenhouse conditions. The experiment was set LIP in a completely randomized design factorial scheme (4 x 4) with 4 rates of N (0; 50; 75 and 100 kg ha(-1)N), 4 rates of K (0; 52; 78; 104 kg ha(-1) K2O) and 4 replicates at second cycle Of Culture. The population was maintained at 400,000 plants per hectare. After 105 days, ten steins of each plot were harvested. The stein and leaf dry matter production, number of flowers in each stem and number of principal lateral shoots in each stem were not influenced by treatments. The rate of 46 kg ha(-1) of N resulted in maximum flower dry matter production (19.40 g plant(-1)) and potassium fertilization did not influence the evaluated characteristics. These results showed how necessary it is to be careful with N and K fertilization in this type of soil, to avoid reduced flower dry matter production. More studies about nitrogen and potassium fertilization should be done to define adequate recommendations for Aster ericoides planting under tropical conditions.