USE OF BIOCHAR AS A COMPLEMENT IN PRODUCTION OF PLANT SEEDLINGS USING TWO DIFFERENT BIOMASS TYPES

Abstract

This work aimed to compare the effect of two different biochars added to a substrate on the growth of lettuce (Lactuca sativa) seedlings. The different biochars were produced with wastes of coconut shell and rice husks, and the pyrolysis was performed in a muffle furnace at low temperature (450ºC) with a heating rate of 10ºC/min for 1 hour. The experiment occurred in the laboratory of UNISINOS University, campus São Leopoldo, in the Rio Grande do Sul state. The lettuce seeds were planted in three sample vessels, one receiving just substrate (control sample), one sample with 95% of a substrate, and 5% of rice husk biochar and one sample with 95% of a substrate with 5% of coconut husk biochar. The seedlings were cultivated for 6 weeks, and later on, the 3 samples were measured on the growing size of the seedlings, analyzed the hydrogenic potential, the pore-sizes, and the surface area. The results of the samples containing biochar were compared with the control sample.