The objectives of the present study, were to determine the critical levels of soil P by the Mehlich I and Resin extractors, and in the plant, for the establishment of Brachiaria decumbens Stapf., Brachiaria brizantha (Ilochst.) Stapf cv. Marandu and Panicum maximum Jack., in a Red Yellow Latosol. The experimental design was a randomized complete block with four replications and 21 treatments (7 levels of P x 3 species). The levels of P corresponded to 0, 20, 40, 80, 160, 320 e 640 kg of P(2)0(5)/ha. Two cuts of plant shoots were performed: the first, eighty days after sowing and the second, thirty days later. Differences in P requeriments for the establishment among the species, for 80% of maximum growth, were evident. The critical levels of soil P, in the first cut, were 4.7; 10.8 and 8.0 ppm (Mehlich I) and 10.7; 21.8 and 16.0 ppm (Resin), for the Brachiaria decumbens, Brachiaria brizantha and Panicum maximum, respectively. For the second cut, the levels were 3.0 and 3,5 ppm (Mehlich I) and 5.8 and 6.5 ppm (Resin), for Brachiaria decumbens and Panicum maximum, respectively. The critical levels of P in the plant were, in the same order, 0.08; 0.13 and 0.06% for the first cut and 0.09 and 0.08%, for the second cut.
soil phosphorus; plant phosphorus; phosphorus fertilization; grass