Fertigant la laitue (Lactuca sativa L ..) en utilisant le thé de compost

Crop nutrient management is a critical component of productivity and quality. Commercial horticulture has relied almost exclusively on inorganic nutrient sources to satisfy plant nutritional requirements. Compost tea represents a sustainable alternative technology but its use has not been extensively researched. A factorial experiment was conducted subjecting lettuce plants to four increasing concentrations of compost tea0, 5, 10 and 20 % (m/v) applied at either 100 or 200 cm3 plant-1 day-1, for 30 days. At the end of the trial, measurements were made of leaf area (LA), yield, shoot and root dry mass (DM), root to shoot ratio, and nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) contents of shoots and roots. Compost tea concentration significantly (P < 0.05) affected all growth indices showing a similar pattern. Increasing concentration up to 10 % (m/v), positively improved growth and yield above the control. Increasing further to 20 % (m/v) reduced LA, yield and dry mass. For these variables, applying compost tea at 200 cm3 plant-1 day-1 resulted in a better response. Increasing concentration of compost tea showed a directly proportional relationship to shoot and root N content. However, the effect was non-significant for P. Yield and shoot DM were affected by the combination of compost tea concentration and application rate. Similar patterns of increasing yield were seen for increasing concentration within both rates however, the differences were significant for all concentrations at the higher application rate. Application of 200 cm3, 5 % compost tea resulted in the greatest yield, shoot and root DM. In addition to root DM, root surface area was significantly correlated with yield and shoot DM. Compost tea used at appropriate concentrations improved root growth and lettuce productivity