INFLUÊNCIA DA SACAROSE NA ACLIMATIZAÇÃO DE Epidendrum cinnabarinum Salzm. ex Lindl. (ORCHIDACEAE) EM SUBSTRATOS ALTERNATIVOS

Abstract

The species of this study, Epidendrum cinnabarinum Salzm (Orchidaceae), has beautiful flowers and a high ornamental potential, being distributed mainly in the northeastern region of Brazil. For the cultivation of orchids, the use of plants obtained from the in vitro cultivation technique is considered the most efficient nowadays aiming at obtaining large scale plants, produced in space and time reduced, with excellent phytosanitary quality. Among the components in the culture medium, sucrose is the most widely used source of carbon and energy. In this work, plants grown in vitro were used in MS culture media containing the following concentrations of sucrose: 10g.L-1, 20g.L-1. 30g.L-1 and 40g.L-1. After 24 months in vitro, the plants were removed from the pots, washed and standardized according to their sucrose concentration. For acclimatization, three types of substrate were used for each sucrose concentration: coconut powder (CP), carbonized sugarcane bagasse (CSB) and sphagnum moss (SM), totaling 12 treatments (4 concentrations of sucrose x 3 substrates). After 120 days of acclimatization, the plants were evaluated for survival rate, number of leaves, root numbers, longest root length, shoot length, stem diameter and largest leaf length. According to the statistical analysis by the Tukey test at 5%, the variables that presented significant values indicate that higher concentrations of sucrose positively influence the growth and development of E. cinnabarinum during the acclimatization stage. However, for each variable, it changes according to the type of substrate to be used.