Alternative methods of substrate disinfection to prepare coffee seedlings (Coffea arabica L.)

Abstract

Searching for an efficient product or method of substrate disinfection to produce coffee seedlings (Coffea arabica L.), this work evaluated the effect of different products in the preparation of the substrate for seedlings in polyetilene bags, in a nursery house at  Universidade Federal de Lavras, Lavras, MG-Brazil. Thirteen modes of substrate disinfection were tested in a randomized block design with four replications. The substrate used was the standard for seedlings from polyetilene bags; the surface soil was removed from areas with 20 year old coffee crops infested with weed seeds. The coffee cultivar used was Paraiso H 419-1. The number of weed seeds that emerged during the first five months of the seedlings in the nursery house was analyzed to verify the efficiency of the disinfection product/method proposed The solarization (30 days), without collector, formol and PCNB treatments were the most efficient in substrate disinfection with greater control of weed plant incidence. The methyl bromide and autoclaving treatments, however, were equally efficient and superior to the other ones.