Information on peach palm (Bactris gasipaes Kunth, Palmae) mineral nutrition is scanty. This study was carried out in a greenhouse of the National Research Institute for Amazonia, Agronomy Department, to characterize the symptoms of nutrient deficiency and to identify the critical nutrient levels. Peach palm plants are cultivated in sand with 13 nutrient solutions: complete nutrient solution, minus nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium, sulphur, iron, boron, copper, manganese, zinc, and molybdenum. The experimental design was completely randomized with 13 treatments and four replications. Nutrient deficiencies in the peach palm seedlings were easy identified and the analytical levels of adequacy and deficiency in the leaves were: N (g kg-1) 30.7 - 10.1; P (g kg-1) 3.4 - 1.0; K (g kg-1) 27.8 - 4.7; Ca (g kg-1) 12.7 -2.6; Mg (g kg-1) 3.5 - 0.9; Fe (mg kg-1) 175 - 191; Zn (mg kg-1) 33 - 41.
Bactris gasipaes; leaf nutrient content