Morphophysiology and nutrition of yellow passion fruit seedlings grown in substrates based on carnaúba palm bagana.

The use of agro-industrial waste may represent an alternative to reduce the costs of purchasing commercial substrates by producers of passion fruit seedlings, and carnaúba palm bagana is an alternative for the Northeastern Brazilian region. In this context, the objective was to evaluate the production of yellow passion fruit seedlings in substrates based on carnaúba bagana in different proportions with soil. The experiment was conducted in the experimental area of the Agrometeorological Station of Fortaleza, Pici Campus, Federal University of Ceará, Brazil, in a completely randomized design, whose treatments consisted of substrates formulated from the combination of different proportions of carnaúba bagana (CB) and soil: Soil (100%) + CB (0%); Soil (75%) + CB (25%); Soil (50%) + CB (50%); Soil (25%) + CB (75%); and Soil (0%) + CB (100%). The presence of CB, regardless of its proportion in the substrate, leads to the best results in photosynthesis and Dickson quality index (DQI) in yellow passion fruit seedlings. The best morphological responses were obtained with CB proportions greater than 50%, which also led to greater accumulation of nutrients in the shoots. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]