Production of seedlings of three forest tree species from the Colombian tropical rainforest

Abstract

Lecythis tuyrana, Eschweilera coriacea, and Clathrotropis brunnea are three species with high forestry and nutraceutical potential for restoring the Magdalena River Basin in the Anden region of Colombia. The study aimed to establish a baseline for producing high-quality seedlings with these species under nursery conditions. In independent experiments for each species, the treatments consisted of a factorial combination of three substrates formulated with local soil (LS), vermicompost (VC), pine bark (PB) or rice husk (RH), and three doses of a 6-month controlled-release fertilizer (CRF). In general, substrates, the addition of CRF up to 8 g L-1 or its interaction had little influence on the growth, biomass, and quality of L. tuyrana and C. brunnea seedlings. The combination of S2 substrate (40% LS + 20% VC + 40% RH) + 5 g L-1 produced E. coriacea seedlings with 1.6 times more total biomass than unfertilized seedlings. Despite being 23% more expensive than the local substrate, this substrate has a more acceptable pH, bulk density, and nutrient contents. The importance of selecting the appropriate dose of CRF among tree species of the same biome is highlighted.