The urban waste compost is an organic material rich in some nutrients, commonly used as an ingredient in substrates for seedling production. The effects of addition of waste compost on the chemical properties of substrate were evaluated in a greenhouse experiment conducted in Campina Grande, PB under a completely randomized design with four replications and 10 polytubes per plot. The treatments consisted of 4 doses of compost (0, 10, 20 and 40% - v/v) added to samples of sandy Entisol. Polytubes of 288 cm³ were used as containers for incubation. The mixture of soil and organic waste compost was incubated for 40 days at moisture content equivalent to 60% of field capacity. After the incubation the substrates were analyzed for pH in CaCl2 and content of Ca2+, Mg2+, Na+, K+, sum of cations (mmol c dm-3), cation exchange capacity (mmol c dm-3), base saturation (%) and organic matter (g kg-1)). The fertility of substrate increased with the addition of urban waste compost.
nutrients cycling; soil chemical properties; fertility
