Production of organic pitaya seedlings in different substrates

Abstract

The pitaya, an epiphyte cactus, can compose agroecological farming systems, using as support
the tree components. The demand for organic seedlings for use in organic farming systems
has increased demand because of the increased area for this type of crop. Millipede compost
is a new organic substrate and its physico-chemical characteristics show great potential
for use in plant propagation. In this work the production of pitaya seedlings using the millipede
compost was evaluated comparing it with substrate resulting from the mixture of sand + bovine
manure and commercial substrate Biomix®. The chemical characterization of the substrates
was carried out and the phytotechnical effect of the shoot was evaluated by measuring the
numbers of potential seedlings (NM) considering the segmentation in 10 cm of the resulting
shoots, the fresh and dry mass of the shoot was measured , (MFPA, MSPA) and roots (MFR
and MSR). The results showed the millipede compost with higher levels of nutrients to the other
studied substrates that resulted in higher phytotechnical parameters in this treatment.