Peach palm (Bactris gasipaes Kunth) has been widely grown in Brazil for the production of heart- of-palm. The species is propagated by seeds and the formation of seedlings is a very important step for the success of the cultivation. This work was carried out from September, 2005 to August, 2006, in Campinas, SP, and its objective was to evaluate the influence of substrate compactation on the growth of seedlings of peach palm. The seedlings were grown in PVC pots with 25 cm of diameter and 27 cm of height in a sandy substrate. The compactation levels reached by means of a hydraulic press were the following: 0; 0.204; 2.037; 4.074 and 6.112 kg cm-2, which corresponded to the following densities: 1.11; 1.12; 1.64; 1.84 and 2.00 g cm-3, respectively. The effects of the treatments on seedlings growth were evaluated by monthly measurements of the following growth variables: total height, stem height, stem diameter, length of the raquis of the youngest fully expanded leaf (leaf + 1). The density of 1.64 g cm-3 provided the highest growth in total height, stem height, stem diameter and length of the youngest fully expanded leaf (leaf +1), which at the end of the experiment were 80 cm, 30 cm, 28 mm and 50 cm, respectively. This was the density under which seedlings could be transplanted to field earlier, at 5 months of age.
Bactris gasipaes and Substrate density
