Evaluación de tres sustratos para la producción de laurel Morella pubescens (Humb. & Bonpl. Ex Willd.) en la comunidad Lagunas, cantón Saraguro, provincia de Loja.

Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate three substrates for the production of laurel (Morella pubescens), determining the best substrate according to its physical and chemical properties, followed by the preparation and sowing of Morella pubescens seeds. Growth was monitored at 15, 30 and 45 days, taking data on height and number of leaves. With these data, the physical and chemical parameters of the substrates were characterized and ADEVA analysis of variance and post hoc tests such as Tukey and Fisher were carried out using InfoStat software. On the other hand, each substrate was evaluated economically. The physical-chemical analysis showed that peat had a high concentration of organic substance (OS) and phosphorus (P), while black soil had a higher concentration of potassium (K), followed by peat and mountain soil. The analysis of variance in the three treatments showed that there was no statistically significant difference between peat and black soil. Finally, related to the economic evaluation of the substrates, a value of $1.09 for peat, $1.68 for black soil and $1.76 for mountain soil was determined. It is concluded according to the results that peat is the best option for the production of Morella pubescens, because it presents greater growth both in height and in number of leaves during the monitoring and data collection; therefore, it is suggested to extend the time of analysis of the seedlings in black and mountain soil since they did not present significant differences.