Nutrient availability and growth of bell pepper plants under fertilization management with humic substances and cattle manure.

Humic substances associated with cattle manure can enhance and reduce the costs of organic fertilization. In this sense, the objective was to evaluate the application of humic substances in association with cattle manure on soil fertility, growth and root nutrition in pepper plants. The experimental design used was randomized blocks, arranged in a factorial scheme with 4 doses of cattle manure (8, 18, 28 and 38 Mg ha-1), 3 doses of humic substances (0, 8 and 12 kg ha-1), with 4 replicates. The variables analyzed were plant height, stem diameter, leaf area, root growth, fresh and root dry weight, root macronutrient contents and soil fertility. Increases in plant height, leaf area and root dry matter (21.2, 58.21 and 8% respectively) were obtained by associating the application of humic substances with manure. Humic substances (12 kg ha-1) in association with manure (8 Mg ha-1) provided an increase in nitrogen content in the roots (36.05%) compared to the application of manure alone, and the application of humic substances (12 kg ha-1) promoted an increase of 10.62% in potassium content in the roots. The availability of calcium in the soil regulated primary root growth. The association of humic substances with cattle manure promoted shoot growth, root dry weight and root nutritional increase in pepper plants.