SILICON UPTAKE AND TRANSLOCATION IN Eucalyptus camaldulensis SEEDLINGS

The search for high productivity of Eucalyptus plants and seedlings with good nutritional and genetic quality, and more resistant to the insect-pest attack are being more and more studied. On this context, this study was realized to understand the absorption and the translocation of silicon in Eucalyptus camaldulensis seedlings. The experiment was carried through in a nursery belonging to 'Votorantim Siderurgia' company, in Vazante - MG state, where the application in substrate (calcium silicate) of the micronutrient was evaluated as well as its application on plant leaves (potassium silicate), at three different doses. The experimental design was entirely randomized, with eight treatments, 20 replicates, totalizing 160 plants. The evaluation of the experiment was carried through on the basis of the values of silicon present on the analysis of the dry matter of roots and aerial parts of plants (mg plant(-1)) and in substrate (%). Three evaluations had been carried through at 30, 60 and 90 days after application of the doses of silicon in leaves and roots and four evaluations for the substrate samples, being the first evaluation at the beginning of the experiment (before the silicon fertilization) and the others at 30, 60 and 90 days after the eucalyptus sowing. Considering the leaf analyses, greater silicon content was observed on the treatment with application of potassium silicate (10 ml/plant) T8, that was on average 3 times more when compared to treatments without silicon (standard fertilization + 110 grams of CaO) - T1 and without application of silicon (standard fertilization + 1.71 grams of KC1) - T2. There were no differences among treatments in relation to silicon content in the Eucalyptus camaldulensis roots. In the substrate samples, a significant increase in the micronutrient content was observed at 30, 60 and 90 days, due to the increasing doses of silicate, in the two forms of application, especially on T8. Thus, it was possible to conclude that Eucalyptus camaldulensis is able to absorb and to translocate this mineral.