Talita dos Santos Ferreira - Institute of Agronomy, Federal Rural University of Rio de Janeiro, Seropédica, Brazil
Rogério Gomes Pêgo - Department of Crop Science, Institute of Agronomy, Federal Rural University of Rio de Janeiro, Seropédica, Brazil
Luiz Fernando de Sousa Antunes - Institute of Agronomy, Federal Rural University of Rio de Janeiro, Seropédica, Brazil
Maria Fernandes Correia - Embrapa Agrobiologia, Rio de Janeiro, Seropédica, Brazil
Rosária da Costa Faria Martins - Institute of Agronomy, Federal Rural University of Rio de Janeiro, Seropédica, Brazil
Margarida Goréte Ferreira do Carmo - Department of Crop Science, Institute of Agronomy, Federal Rural University of Rio de Janeiro, Seropédica, Brazil

Purpose To evaluate the production and the quality of seedlings of different pepper genotypes produced on millicompost as an organic substrate.Method Three experiments were carried out, one for each pepper genotype (ENAS-۵۰۰۷, ENAS-۵۰۳۱ and ENAS-۵۰۳۲) in which three substrates were evaluated: ۱۰۰% Millicompost (S۱); Millicompost MIX (۵۰% millicompost + ۵۰% powdered coconut fiber) (S۲) and Carolina organic® commercial substrate (S۳). Variables evaluated: shoot and root dry mass (SDM and RDM), number of leaves (NL), plant height (PH), seedling vigor (SV) and clod stability (CS). The data were subjected to the analysis of variance and the means were compared by the Tukey’s test at ۵% probability level.Results For the ENAS-۵۰۰۷ and ENAS-۵۰۳۲ genotypes, there was a significant difference in all the variables analyzed, being S۱ and S۳ the substrates with the highest and the lowest performances, respectively. In the ENAS-۵۰۳۱ genotype, SDM and RDM did not differ between S۱ and S۲. For ENAS-۵۰۳۱, there were significant differences in PH, NL and SV, in which S۱ promoted the best results; however, no significant difference was observed for CS.Conclusion The ۱۰۰% millicompost substrate promoted the best development of pepper seedlings in all the three genotypes evaluated. However, the combination of the millicompost MIX has the potential to be used, as it promotes seedlings of superior quality in comparison to the commercial substrate, maximizing the use of millicompost as a substrate for the production of organic pepper seedlings.

Capsicum spp, Millicomposting, Plug seedlings, Coconut fiber