Abstract

The introduction of organic production in coffee growing has demanded an increase for information on seedling production with standard of quality. Hence, the purpose of the present work was to evaluate how the amount of organic substrate in black and white nonwoven fabric (NWF) bags in four different sizes influences the quality index of Coffea arabica L. seedling produced in an organic system. The quality parameters evaluated were leaf area; number of leaves; plant height; collar diameter; dry matter of leaves, stalk, root and total. Whereas the parameters of quantity were the relation between shoot dry matter and root dry matter (RSR); the relation between shoot height and stem diameter (RHD) and the Dickson Quality Index (DQI). Seedlings produced in 1200 mL black containers presented the best results in most of the evaluated parameters. Seedlings produced in 410 mL containers presented Dickson Quality Index of 0.2, which is the index described by other authors as the adequate standard of quality for seedlings. 

Key words: Coffea arabica L., Dickson quality index, Agropote^®, organic composite.