Performance of agricultural substrates in the production of lettuce seedlings (Lactuca sativa L.)

The production of seedlings for transplanting is one of the most important stage to successful lettuce cultivation. Among the techniques practiced to obtain seedlings of vegetables, stands out using agricultural substrates associated with the cultivation trays. The experimental setup design was in completely randomized with 5 treatments and 6 repetitions.The experiment was carried out in a greenhouse, where were evaluated five commercial substrates (TropstratoHT®, Vivatto Slim Plus®, Tecnomax® , Holambra HS® and Bianchi Power) for the development of lettuce seedlings cv. Lucy Brown. Analyzes were performed to quantify the physical and chemical characteristics of the substrate. It was evaluated Fresh mass of shoots and roots, total fresh mass, dry mass of shoots and roots, total dry mass, stalk diameter, leaf area and leaf number. The results showed that among evaluated substrates, Bianchi Power ® showed be more efficient to seedling lettuce production by influence on the growth and development