This experiment was carried out in Jaboticabal, São Paulo State, Brazil, between August and September 2002, to evaluate the effect of different vermicompost doses and cattle manure on growth, yield and quality of radish roots (Raphanus sativus L.), cultivar Crimson Giant. Direct sowing of the radish was followed by thinning nine days after, adjusting the spacing to 0.20 x 0.08 m. A randomized blocks experimental design was used, with seven treatments (15; 30 and 45 t ha-1 of earthworm humus or cattle manure, and a control without fertilizer addition), in three replications. There was higher dry mass accumulation in the leaves than in other organs, with continuous accumulation until 13 days after sowing, with further reduction, when the root development occurred. Doses and sources of organic fertilization slightly influenced growth, total productivity and quality of commercial roots. Earthworm humus reduced the percentage of cracked and spongeous roots in the doses of 9.2 and 20.4 t ha-1, respectively. Doses of 21.3 t ha-1 of cattle manure promoted the highest percentage of cracked roots, while the dose of 45 t ha-1 reduced this percentage, when compared to the use of 15 t ha-1.
Raphanus sativus L.; organic fertilization; growth; production; physiologic disturbances
