Abstracto
- The eggplant is a vegetable with high demand in the department of Córdoba (Colombia), where it has social and economic importance. The current production system has some technological constraints, including seedling production without quality control of the substrates, with negative effects on production, yield and fruit quality. In order to evaluate alternatives amongst the substrates available in the region, an experiment was carried out under a completely randomized design with seven treatments for mixtures of substrates (T1 = 50% alluvium + 50% rice husk; T2 = 40% alluvium + 40% rice husk + 20% vermicompost; T3 = 40% alluvium + 40% rice husk + 20% poultry manure; T4 = 40% sand + 40% alluvium + 20% vermicompost; T5 = 40% sand + 40% alluvium + 20% poultry manure; T6 = 40% alluvium + 40% coconut fiber + 20% vermicompost y T7 = 40% alluvium + 40% coconut fiber + 20% poultry manure), with six repetitions. The present study used 6 x 8 inch polypropylene bags and CO-029 cultivar seeds. The results indicate that larger seedlings and optimal quality were obtained with substrates consisting of a mixture of vermicompost and/or poultry manure, alluvial soil and sand; while rice husk and/or coconut fiber resulted in inferior agronomic quality seedlings. The percentage of germination and germination velocity were not affected by the composition of the substrates.
