Doses of Osmocote® in the acclimatization of micropropagated plantlets of Anthurium maricense

Anthurium maricense is a tropical ornamental species with great commercial potential in the areas of landscaping and potted foliage plants. One of the main obstacles in the production of micropropagated anthurium plantlets is its slow development and/or the low survival rate of the plantlets during the acclimatization stage. The use of slow-release fertilisers (SRF) can accelerate this process; however, there are no reports in the literature concerning this practice during acclimatization of micropropagated plantlets of this species. As such, in the present study, the effects of different doses of SRF on the development of micropropagated plantlets of Anthurium maricense were evaluated during the acclimatization stage in a screenhouse. The experiment was carried out in a completely randomised design, with five treatments and four replications of four plantlets per plot. The treatments comprised doses of 0.0, 2.5, 5.0, 7.5 and 10.0 kg m-3 of the SRF Osmocote® (NPK 15:9:12) added to the substrate. The variables under evaluation were the variation in plant height, in the number of leaves and in the area of the largest leaf, pot occupancy, net photosynthetic rate, internal carbon, and leaf temperature and moisture. The use of SRF promoted better development of the micropropagated plantlets of A. maricense during the acclimatization stage. Of the variables under analysis, the variation in the area of the largest leaf is the most important, since the commercial interest of the studied species is the foliage, which was at its maximum with an estimated dose of Osmocote® of 6.40 kg m-3