Alternative substrates in the production of seedlings peppers

Pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) is a vegetable of great socioeconomic importance in Brazil. One of the main steps of the production system is the production of quality seedlings and for this a good quality substrate is necessary. Thus, the present study aimed to evaluate the development of pepper seedlings under different alternative substrates. The experiment was carried out following a completely randomized design with four replications. The 13 treatments were obtained in a 3x4+1 factorial; The first factor consists of three substrates: PlantHort II, III PlantHort (alternative) and the Plantmax (R) (commercial substrate) and the second factor comprises four levels of carbonized rice hulls in proportions of 0, 25, 50, 75% and additional treatment with 100% carbonized rice husk. Alternative substrates PlantHort II; PlantHort III was superior to the Plantmax (R) trade in plant height, root length, lap diameter, shoot dry mass, root dry mass, leaf number and dickson quality index. The alternative substrate PlantHort III provided a higher development quality index for sweet pepper seedlings in relation to the PlantHort II and Plantmax (R) substrates.