Growth of Eucalyptus urophylla seedlings produced in conventional and water collection trays in degradable tube and polypropylene systems

The nursery revolution in the 80s occurred with polyethylene tubes, which are still widely used, even with some negative points. The demand to reduce costs in the nursery has driven the evolution of seedling production techniques and products, such as degradable tubes and water collection trays. This study aimed to evaluate under nursery conditions the growth phase of Eucalyptus urophylla clones produced in polyethylene tube systems and degradable material with different occupation levels. The occupancy of 27% and 50% of flat polyethylene trays with 176 cells and 100% of water collector trays with 40 cells were tested. The height, diameter, survival rate, Dickson’s Quality Index (DQI), shoot dry matter, and root system dry matter were evaluated 70 days after the experiment implementation. According to the results obtained, the degradable tube and the water collector tray favored the development of the clones in terms of height and DQI. The tubes and trays used in the study did not statistically influence shoot dry matter, root system dry matter, and the total dry matter of the clones. The treatment that used degradable tubes and the water collection tray presented the best mean values of the evaluated growth parameters.