MACRO AND MICRONUTRIENT DEFICIENCY IN MATURE SEEDLINGS OF KHAYA IVORENSIS STUDIED IN NURSERY

ABSTRACT African mahogany (Khaya ivorensis) is a high value forest species and of great potential to replace the brazilian mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla). Currently, little is known about the nutritional requirements of African mahogany. In this sense, the present study aimed to evaluate the growth and mineral composition K. ivorensis plants submitted to the omission of macro and micronutrients. For this, we carried out a experiment with nutrient solution with the following treatments: T1-Complete Solution; T2-omission of nitrogen; T3-omission of phosphorus; T4-omission of potassium; T5-omission of calcium; T6-omission of magnesium; T7-omission of sulfur; T8-omission of iron; T9-omission of boron; T10-omission of copper; T11-omission of manganese; T12-omission of zinc; T13-omission of molybdenum; and T14-deionized water. The evaluations were carried out based on commercial seedlings ready for planting, which remained in a greenhouse, irrigated only with deionized water. After fifteen days, the plants started to receive 200 ml of nutrient solution daily. The experimental design used was completely randomized with fourteen treatments and ten replications. The dendrological data were collected every fifteen days until they became well defined. The plants had their growth affected only by the omission of N, showing smaller contents of the element in the leaves. The omissions of the other nutrients only slightly affected the growth of plants.