Nutritional state of hybrid squash as a function of organic compost and mineral fertilizer

An experiment was carried out in a plastic greenhouse, in Viçosa, Minas Gerais, Brazil, to evaluate the response of hybrid squash cv. Tetsukabuto to five rates (0, 25, 50, 100, and 150 g/dm³) of organic compost combined with three levels (0, 1 and 2) of mineral fertilizer. At level 1 of mineral fertilizer the following nutrients were added in mg per dm³ of substrate: 150 of P; 50 of N; 75 of K; 20 of S; 58.5 of Ca; 14 of Mg; 0.5 of B; 0.5 of Cu; 1 of Zn and 0.1 of Mo. At level 2, a double of the quantities applied at level 1 were added. The experiment was laid out as a 5 x 3 factorial arrangement, and the treatments randomly distributed in blocks, with four repetitions. Each sample comprised a pot containing 10 dm³ of substrate and a single plant. Thirty six days after planting the organic compost and mineral fertilizer resulted in increases in leaf area, dry weight of aerial parts, and P, K and S content, and a decrease in the contents of N, Mg and Ca in the dry matter of the leaf blade.

Cucurbita maxima x C. moschata; nutrient concentration; growth; organic compost; mineral fertilizer