Fertilizers may be used to change the competitive relations, favoring the crop species, providing the competing species have different responses to the nutrient application. Thus, the aim of this study was to evaluate the growth of Cassava plant, Bidens pilosa L. and Brachiaria decumbens Stapf, as a function of the amount of P supplied at planting. The experiment was conducted in a greenhouse and the, treatments were arranged in a 3 x 4 factorial, involving the three species studied and four levels of phosphate fertilization (absence of P2O5, 80 kg ha-1, 800 kg ha-1 and 4000 kg ha-1 P2O5, equivalent to 0, 1, 10 and 50 times the phosphorus dose recommended, respectively). A randomized block design was used, with five replications. The application of phosphate fertilizer promoted larger growth of the species evaluated, and cassava had higher growth of the shoot with the increased availability of phosphorus. In general, weeds showed higher responses to lower doses of phosphorus.
Manihot esculenta Crantz; Bidens pilosa L; Brachiaria decumbens Stapf; phosphorus
