Effect of potassium fertilization of robusta coffee mother plants on clonal seedlings growth
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.25186/.v21i.2394Abstract
This study aims to evaluate the effects of different doses of potassium (K) on the growth of the clonal seedlings of Coffea canephora in a clonal garden. The mother plants of C. canephora coffee of the Robusta botanical variety in the clonal garden system from the Plant Breeding Program of Embrapa-RO in Brazil were used in the experiment. The potassium fertilizer was applied to these plants at different rates, including 0 (control), 40, 80, 120, 160, 200, and 240 kg ha-1, divided into 4 applications, during 150 days of the growth of the orthotropic stems (shoots). Cuttings were collected from the mother plants, and their dry matter and nutrient concentrations were determined. In addition, these cuttings were used for the production of seedlings, whose growth was then evaluated at 0, 48, 61, 80, 101, 122, 143, and 164 days after sticking the unrooted cutting into the growth media (DAS), and their vegetative traits were also analyzed at 122 DAS. The accumulation of nutrients in the clonal cutting showed the following order: K > N > Ca > P > Mg > S, irrespective of the dose of K applied to the mother plant, indicating that potassium was the nutrient accumulated in the greatest amount. Applying K doses up to 240 kg K₂O ha⁻¹ during the cuttings growth period enhances vegetative traits and raises the Dickson Quality Index (DQI), thereby producing C. canephora clonal seedlings with superior physiological quality.
Key words: Coffea canephora; clonal garden; cutting nutrition; physiological quality; clonal seedlings.
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