The aim of this study was to determinate the macronutrient content in leaves of coffee seedlings grown in plastic pots. The experiment was carried out at a greenhouse located in the coffee research area at the Agronomy Department of Lavras Federal University from May 2003 to January 2004. We used a block design in a sample factorial 6 x 3 with four blocks, where the substrate was treated with six levels of fertilization (50, 75, 100, 125, 150, and 200% of standard fertilization with Osmocote for m³ substrate) and the evaluations were performed at three stages of development (sampling times): three, four, and five pairs of leaves. The following characteristics were evaluated: plant height (cm), stem diameter (mm), leaf area (cm²), root dry weight (g), stem dry weight (g), leaf dry weight (g), total dry weight (g), and leaf analysis for the following nutrients: N, P, K, Ca, Mg, S. The critical ranges obtained for macronutrients were: nitrogen (2.26 to 2.62 dag/Kg); phosphorus (0.22 to 0.25 dag/Kg); potassium (2.59 to 2.92 dag/Kg); calcium (0.69 to 0.76 dag/Kg); magnesium (0.11 to 0.12 dag/Kg); sulfur (0.15 to 0.24 dag/Kg). It was confirmed that the four true pair of leaves were the ideal for leaf sampling aiming at the identification of the mactonutrient contents.
Coffee tree; seedlings; nutrients; plastic pots
