Plant spacing and phosphate fertilization on costus

Abstract

The Cheilocostus speciosus is a species with ornamental potential, but the lack of scientific and technical information for fertilization and management of cut flowers production, turns essential to research in this area on floriculture. The aim of this work was to evaluate the production of C. speciosus fertilized with different levels of phosphate and plant spacing. Four treatments were used in a factorial scheme, with two plant spacing (1.20 x 0.80 m and 1.20 x 1.60 m) and two levels of phosphate fertilization (35 and 70 g per plant). The variables analyzed were number of vegetative stems, clump height, number of inflorescences, inflorescence diameter, inflorescence height and stem with inflorescence height. The interaction plant spacing and P doses for height of stem with inflorescence showed that the 1.20 x 0.8 m spacing presented the best results independently of the P dose applied and for clump height treatment the spacing 1.20 x 0.80 m and 35 g P showed the best results. Phosphorus fertilization had no effect on C. speciosus flower production for all other variables analyzed, and the spacing 1.2 x 0.8 m is recommended for C. speciosus flower production.