EFFECT OF DIFFERENT SUBSTRATES ON TOMATO SEEDLINGS GROWTH (Lycopersicum esculentum MILL)

The obtaining of vigorous tomato seedlings can reduce the loss of plants after their transplanting besides there is an alternative of using available substrates in the producing regions of the species. The research was focused on evaluating the effect of different substrates on the growth of seedlings under greenhouse conditions. The substrates were agricultural soil, composted pine sawdust, vermicompost, peanut shells and peat used as control, these were deposited in 200 cavities polyethylene trays. 100 seeds were sown by substrate replicated four times. The study variables were submitted to analysis of variance, Tukey test and correlations with statistical package SPSS version 15.0. The substrates sawdust and vermicompost had similar effects to the peat in the dynamics of seedling growth. Among the properties of the substrates to standing out was the water absorption capacity (WAC), where stood out the peat but the sawdust and vermicompost showed significance in WAC, which favored the germination and emergence of the seedlings. In the peat, sawdust and vermicompost were obtained the seedlings with major dry weight, height and stem diameter. Therefore, sawdust and vermicompost substrates represent an alternative for the production of tomato seedlings.